An Auguste clown is confident in her stupidity. Ungraceful, slapstick, permanently smiling—she is the happiest fool. Holding onto her childishness tightly, she stumbles forward with joy. A Pierrot clown is melancholy, sensitive, and deeply attuned to the suffering in her world. She is hurting in a way that necessitates laughter.

My most authentic self is a clown. Queer, loud, silly, rejecting conformity, opposing systems of power, laughing, failing, singing, taking up space, demanding attention, hurting, helping, causing trouble, and dying to make people laugh.

This collection of work reflects on my childhood. I remember it as both happy and terrifying. I find myself in a similar state now. These prints combine drawings I made from ages two to twenty-eight. Raised Catholic, I often think about iconography and sainthood, and halos appear in my imagery. Recently, I have been dwelling on masks—the kinds we put on as social performance, and the kinds we wear to protect each other.

Through these drawings and prints, I am unlearning all the things I am not, and returning to myself.