Oil Painting on Canvas, Winter 2022
The trompe l'oeil is a style of realistic painting from an actual model. We weren’t told what the painting should be about and I was in an earlier part of my transition so I wanted to make mine about that. I had been out as trans for a year by this point but still felt lots of pressure about presenting the way I was. I didn’t feel like I had to explain why I wasn’t on medication, why I still liked to wear certain things and why I hadn’t ‘done’ more. While I still feel like my explanation and my expression of being trans will never be done, I look back at this painting and get a very refreshing reminder of where I was and where I am now.
