Elly Vongnarith

How can I convey my experience as a queer, Asian woman? As a minority within a minority, I explore my personal frustrations, desires, and hopes.

As I began my series, I portray the melancholic reality that Sapphic individuals inevitably face. In Smile, Pretty Girl, I use a shattered mirror to convey an internal conflict of gender expression and self acceptance. In Asphyxiation, wild botanicals flood the canvas and surround the faceless figure, emitting the feeling of suffocation. In Just One Bite, I illustrate a sickly, starving torso with an exposed rib cage to represent the loneliness and yearning of unrequited love. In I’m Better, I celebrate the Sapphic identity by depicting a woman that confidently embraces both femininity and masculinity.