Prideful Empire
Metal Made Real In Every Way, masks in the mirror in the dark arrayed, unfurl into a flurry of a billion blades, a mass of writhing metal you can see from far away.
If you've followed me for a while you will know that i am an asylum seeker, because threats to my safety in my home country mean i would have to detransition or be subject to violence if i ever returned. Yesterday the law firm i hired to help me with my case shut down, meaning i will have to hire a new one. This could cost thousands of dollars.
i have no idea how i'm going to keep going.
i often reflect on how it feels like the cost of pride and being visible is incredibly high, and many of the other trans refugees i know tell me similar stories. Regardless, it's still the the most important choice i've ever made. i think i want to celebrate having had the opportunity to be myself to some people even while the future is up in the air.
A bit about the drawing… i mostly tried this out just to see if i could meet the challenge in managing the composition. In the original, most of the characters have the same uniform, and so there's the impression they're blending into a larger whole with the exception of the foreground figure. Varying the colour means adjusting this balance a bit. the process video for this sure is something.
i wanted to emphasise how different each of them were, while still keeping them similarly designed enough to be reminiscent of each other. it did feel like a meditative brainstorming session at times.
Special thanks to my friend Claire, who helped make some decisions on adjustments to the composition and colours.
