Eislyn wolf-noyes

Artist's Statement

These two drawings, which I made in 2017, reflect a time in my life before gender transition where I was hiding the pain of hopeless despair. In one, the woman is turned away from life and from the thought of transformation, her voice constricted and her heart a gnawing wound. In the other, pleasant on the surface, a woman is bleeding behind a sunflower that hides her face. They are both about having to pretend to be okay when you are not.

Although I am in a much better place since coming out as transgender and transitioning, the pandemic coupled with divorce has resurfaced some of these feelings. The feeling of being isolated, unable to act or express myself fully, of being cut off from my LGBTQ+ community and having to pretend that it is okay (i.e. going on with normal life) for work and my kids.