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2-D Design
Steph S.
San Francisco Bay Area, California
Bound｜19 x 13 in.
Idea(s): To show the struggle I face between being what others want of me and how I identify as a person.
Material(s): Gc2b binder, ace bandage, pleated skirt, thrifted jewelry, studio photoshoot, dslr camera
Process(es): self-analyzing, finding inspiration, costume curation, studio photoshoot, photoshop, editing
Curatorial Note: Powerful photo focusing on body image issues/ student self-portrait simultaneously expressing identity
“For this portfolio, I wanted to focus on queer visibility, there is never just one valid queer experience, all queer experiences are equally valid. I wanted to represent the fact that being queer is whatever you make it, and clothing doesn’t have a gender—wear whatever your heart desires!”
Student statement
Student
statement
Read the transcript
The title of this piece is Bound. This piece is very vulnerable to me as it represents a very real struggle I face between being what other people want of me and what I want of myself, which, unfortunately, is a very common theme amongst the queer community. As a gay, nonbinary LatinX kid who is also first gen, my queerness and gender expression are extremely looked down upon, which makes me feel bound, which is why I titled this piece such.
The title of this piece is Bound. This piece is very vulnerable to me as it represents a very real struggle I face between being what other people want of me and what I want of myself, which, unfortunately, is a very common theme amongst the queer community. As a gay, nonbinary LatinX kid who is also first gen, my queerness and gender expression are extremely looked down upon, which makes me feel bound, which is why I titled this piece such. The idea of this piece represents the overarching concept for my overall portfolio: the binding or constraints put upon queer individuals. In this piece, that constraint is demonstrated by the binding of my chest. Being someone very outspoken for injustices, right off the bat, I knew I wanted to target a struggle in the queer community as it is one of the things I advocate for most strongly.
When picking the materials for this piece, I decided I wanted to choose one of the things I struggle with the most and create a look around that. For me, my chest is a daily struggle because I hate binding as it makes my chest sore and can hurt quite a bit at the end of the day. But, I also don't always enjoy having a flat chest. The hardest days are when I can't choose either/or. I use my GC2B binder, and over that, an ankle wrap to represent how binders aren't always accessible for everyone and how it can lead to people resorting to using more harsher items like ankle wraps, which aren't great alternatives.
The skirt fell into the picture rather quickly after I decided to use my binder because my family always mentions how pretty I look in a skirt, even when I don't want to wear one. It's expected of me. Wearing these pieces and doing the photoshoot for this look was overall a heavy experience because I was uncomfortable. But I took that adversity as a piece of the puzzle to this project. This piece was supposed to exemplify a struggle of discomfort due to one's own internalized perception. The fact that I was feeling these emotions made me appreciate the piece so much more, which encouraged me to push through the discomfort and keep the piece rather than discard it.
If I were to offer one piece of advice to any other AP art students, it would be to push through your boundaries a little, venture out of what is comfortable to you because you will never know what you can create unless you push those boundaries.
Steph S.
Teacher Statement
Teacher Statement
Reed E.
Read the transcript
Hello, I'm here to talk to you about the piece titled Bound by my student, Steph. If you haven't already, I highly encourage you to watch their video describing the work. I can't do it any justice. Steph does an amazing job describing all the meaning and the message that went into the work and all the behind-the-scenes elements that went into it.
Hello, I'm here to talk to you about the piece titled Bound by my student, Steph. If you haven't already, I highly encourage you to watch their video describing the work. I can't do it any justice. Steph does an amazing job describing all the meaning and the message that went into the work and all the behind-the-scenes elements that went into it.
I can say that this was a very empowering project for Steph. They were able to amplify their voice—their visual voice—and that's what art does. Art can reach a lot of people; art can help you empathize or sympathize or disagree. It creates discourse. It creates that opportunity to have understanding. And to have that conversation, and that's what this piece does, it's really successful in that way.
A lot of planning went into it, and a lot of iteration and experimentation, and revision went into it. A lot of ups, downs, struggles, and rewards—that's what art does. That's what AP does as a class. It helps you. It helps students. It helps teachers. It helps the audience look at things more closely and have these deep investigations and these deep conversations. I highly encourage you to really have a look at this piece and listen to what Steph had to say.
Steph S.
