So these are disembodied drawings
that I started with when I was in art school.
And I think I was dealing with the seeing
and being seen having the experience of being the only
Black person in the entire Art Department.
And also having a disability and just
feeling a little bit outside of my body because I
was so aware of how others were looking at me.
So I started drawing these.
And then they turned into these pieces
because there weren't very many women either.
And there was something about being a woman
that seemed like what other people were trying to say
was ugly or vulgar.
So I started making these drawings
and I was writing some of these poems around the same time.
And I wanted to say, well no, it's actually not vulgar.
It's actually beautiful and we should embrace the beauty
of our bodies in general.
It doesn't even matter if you're a man or woman or whatever.
Let's not color ourselves ugly.
Let's not color our insides ugly or our outsides ugly.
Let's turn it inside out.
And it's a natural thing.
So the lines are meant to be both natural and stylized.
There are like hundreds of those I've done
that I haven't shown anybody.
So that's another spectacle thing.
You guys are special.
[LAUGHTER]