Katlyn Le Leal

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When I was a child I hid under a facade; a facade of happiness and cheerful joy. Through this veil I portray the events of my life through artifacts and phrases I used during a period of my life.The first is the lavender which represents my youth, and the solitude I encountered as an only child while walking through my mother’s garden. Embroidered is the phrase “I forgot,” in which hold the memories of the times when my parents gave me responsibilities that I was not capable to handle at that age. This phrase was always said with guilt or confusion. The notes and paper clips symbolize my years in middle school; I was obsessed with office supplies as well as oblivious to the hatred expressed by my peers at me. The words “Suppress” are embroidered in red because it is one of the only period of my life that I cannot remember anything, as if I wished it away. The next phase of my life takes form in rainbow ribbons and represents my realization of my sexuality (as pansexual). Throughout high school I was always told that “[I] was too emotional” it is embroidered in white to blend into the veil that you almost glance over it, similarly, to how I viewed the words at first, but realized they have negative connotations. The final stage is now represented by the phrase “My, Mine, Hers, Theirs,” in which demonstrated my change from being a self centered child of my youth into a person who wants to give back as much as I can; the uses of hers/theirs also illustrated my switch of only identifying by one pronoun to now both she/her/they/them.