brigette teo

Analogies to Better Explain Myself

2023Experimental video, found objects

A change in hairstyle is all it takes for family and friends to ask the question for the ages – “Why did you cut your hair?” The answer depends on the person who is asking, and I can chose how in depth or truthfully I want to address this question. As a nonbinary individual, I have tried many ways to present myself in ways so that I can feel comfortable and happy with my identity. In reality, it is hard to allow this truth to come out however I please without fearing difficult and perhaps unpleasant conversations.

These visual and verbal analogies represent the struggles and nuances in having to defend and justify one’s own identity. I imagine that if I could express what I feel, I could come up with different analogies as metaphors for my experience based on who I am talking to. This is my shot in the dark at stringing together the right words to explain, so that others can better understand the perspectives of the people who only wish to be more like themselves.