Cultivating Identity (Rover)
2019
Soft Sculpture, Fabric, Multimedia wearable backpack, Watercolor Pieces Inside.

This is Rover… They’re an extension of myself. I was thinking a lot about who I was and what my identity was at the time. Was it my experiences? My memories? How I am perceived? How I look? My government ID? My education status? All of these things feel more like something I carry with me, not so much an identity. Who am I if I don’t have any evidence for it?
So I made Rover, a little backpack guy who has similar accessories to me. They’re wearing basically a costume of mine. Inside of Rover, in the zippered pocket sewn into their back, are a collection of 6, to scale, watercolor paintings. A 4″x6″ Kinkos reproduction of a photo of my brother and I. A polaroid of me and an ex taken on Keith Harring Film back when I was halfway out the closet. My now expired Texas State ID with my deadname on it – I haven’t gotten my license or my name changed yet. Maybe they’ll be coinciding events. A ticket stub from Get Out (telling?). My school ID from the worst time, like, ever. A concert ticket from when I was saving myself for marriage.