"CORAJE" Digital Illustration (Illustrator + Photoshop) 2019
This piece tackles sexual orientation. It shows a well sculpted bronze man with patches in his body showing off what's inside of him. The spectrum represents his spirit and his sexuality. He wears laurels which signifies his accomplishments and how successful he is as told by society. He is holding a sword, a phallic symbol, which represents his sexual desire, specifically attraction to his same sex. The sword is also a weapon, a responsibility that he is holding. He can use it to reveal his true self but it takes courage to truly show everyone what he really feels inside. To be truly one's self is one of the bravest thing a person could do. No matter how we are raised up or shaped by the society, it's only us who knows who we are deep inside. It takes guts to liberate the mind and soul from the bounds of society. It takes a brave heart to love someone deeply. It takes courage to be true to one's self.
"GENDER ≠ EXPRESSION" Digital Illustration (Illustrator + Photoshop) 2019
This illustration shows three concepts of SOGIE: Sex, Identity and Expression. What we look outside does not necessarily tell who we are inside. Sex is biological and is the marker recorded in our birth. Commonly its Male or Female but many people don't know that there three more sex: hermaphrodite, female pseudohermaphrodites (individuals who have ovaries and some male genitalia but lack testes), and male pseudohermaphrodites (individuals who have testes and some female genitalia but lack ovaries). Gender identity, which is usually used interchangeably with the term 'sex,' refers to one’s inner sense of self of being a girl/woman, boy/man, other genders, all, or neither. Meanwhile, Gender expression refers to how an individual expresses his or her sense of self. Society has dictated how men and women should properly behave or dress, but in reality, these are just toxic patriarchal culture which is written by ancient societies. Nowadays, there are people who are becoming more open to expressing themselves but stereotypes are still very much common and puts pressure to the LGBT community especially the young ones who tries to suppress their true selves to fit in with the society. The artwork shows a queue of people of different sexes. The two persons in the middle shows a inverted happy face, or the 'fake happy' face, and their shadow, which represents who they are inside, shows that it doesn't match with what they are outside. Sex, Identity and Expression is not just male or female, girl or boy, men or woman, black or white. It is many like the colors of the spectrum.
The artworks are also in DeviantArt. If you like it, do hit the star buttons here: "Coraje" "Gender ≠ Expression" This is dedicated to all my LGBTQIA+ friends and loved ones.