ARMY OF LOVERS

In the first art class I took during my time at UMBC, I ended the class by making a series of photos about trans people and the issues that trans people face, although I feel like that series wasn’t as focused as it should have been, but I really wanted to revisit the idea of doing art depicting trans people, their bodies, and the issues they have to deal with, so it always stuck around in my mind. After hearing about another project prompt for an art class, I immediately thought I could revisit this concept. I wanted to explore the idea that by virtue of being who we are, transgender people are seen as these dangerous, violent people. I immediately got the idea of guns just from their widespread nature- guns are widespread and actually dangerous, yet there are more laws controlling trans people and their bodies than there are about truly dangerous things. I also drew inspiration from a 2017 video game called The Tearoom, a self-described public bathroom simulator in which you, "suck off another dude's gun."