queer as divine contends with the suppression, discovery, and intricacies of my identity and desires. Growing up queer in the evangelical South, my relationship with love and sexuality has been a journey marked by both resistance and triumph. As I’ve studied how the forces that sought to suppress me have shaped my identity, I have also come to understand how love dares me to confront and redefine these experiences. 

Each piece in this collection navigates a different facet of the journey—presence, silencing, intimacy, and visibility. i was here stamps a memo of my existence onto childhood photographs, transforming rejection into assertion. gagged turns the biblical symbol of the apple into a gag, surrounded by spikes that embody shame and repression, confronting the condemnation of queer desire. play with my nipple unboxes sexuality through a layered brooch, culminating in a replica of my nipple as an act of reclamation and vulnerability. for all the glory reimagines a glory hole with golden duct tape on a transparent panel, inviting reflection on intimacy and visibility. 

For me, these works aren’t only about the final object—it’s been about the process, the physicality, and the way materials push back. The weight of metal, the pressure of stamping, and the transformation of raw materials mirror my own process of reclaiming identity. queer as divine is my declaration: I exist, and I am sacred in my queerness. I invite viewers to peel back the layers of these works, to sit with the tensions of love, shame, and desire, and to reflect on their own moments of defiance and revelation.