CONTENT WARNING: The painting has slight nudity, with one exposed chest.
It’s Pink, Because I Love You
Oil On Canvas, decorated with Acrylic Glitter and Adhesive Rhinestones.
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Description
The piece is centered around my partner and I, with a focus on intimacy and the comfort I feel with them in my life. It’s Pink, Because I Love You uses pinks and glitters as an expression of my joy when I am around people who make me feel comfortable.
Biography
Cam Carmichael (He/They)
Reflection
We’re right now in the midst of an economic crisis where my sense of control of time is flooded by other jobs and involvement in my passions. I feel as if I cannot breathe some days due to the amount of labor I am putting into every day. My parents are struggling financially, and this grant allows me to continue pursuing Art and follow my dreams of grad school and painting endeavors. The heightened sense of self preservation that COVID allowed into our world made it so I can express myself. Plenty of people understood their queerness during this time, and as an existing queer identifying person I felt like there was an open door to discuss these subjects. I’ve been Queer and Trans for over 7 years now and have faced plenty of prejudice for my identity, and it continues today. The catharsis of creating work about my hardships create a sense of pride of my choice to continue living. Trans Youth are currently under worse conditions than the ones I faced across the world, and these discussions are essential to saving them. I’m incredibly grateful to continue to paint and make my identity and experiences a communicative device for educating others about being unapologetically Transgender and Queer. Especially when my voice isn’t listened to, Art is a means of my voice that makes it so people listen to me. And in a time where people don’t understand the importance of such voice, CAL students deserve the bare minimum of financial support. The grant made it possible for me to continue communicating with paint.