ME NOT at 53rd International Exhibition San Diego Art Institute

ME NOT includes a looped video of the same name, and drawings from "cactus, flower, f%#k-off, love, roses" series. ME NOT references gender fluidity and resistance to cultural constructs of identity. The drawings evoke my struggle to understand the essence of womanhood, both as a female and a parent. As two of my daughters enter puberty, one for the second time, I question just what does it mean to be female, beyond the biological. I worry about my youngest, what will she leave behind, or embrace, as she forgoes her childhood and becomes a young woman? How will my transgender daughter ever make up for the socialization she has missed? How can she possibly catch-up, or should she?

“Me Not” video documents a woman attempting to remove the needles of a cactus. The task is not so simple and eventually she uses a tiny manicure scissors. The piece alludes to the child ritual, plucking petals while reciting “he loves me, he loves me not”, but “Me Not” is not playful. The video references gender non-conformity, violence against women (cis and trans), and resistance to cultural constructs of womanhood.