This Story Needs Mending

My project is about my asexuality, most often defined as an orientation in which people do not experience sexual attraction. It’s not well understood in the public consciousness; most people really don’t have the words to put asexuality into context because we generally assume everyone feels sexual and romantic attraction. In my experience, I’ve felt like I’m told I’m lacking something I’m supposed to have. So with my images, I’m able to reference stories people know to help them understand how I’ve felt coming to terms with my sexuality. I’m denying that fairytale romance young girls are often made to feel they need to have. Any amount of stillness, destruction, or apparent death is also a sign of life, of living otherwise in the silences and absences, of dwelling against the normative and restrictive structures of a society that demands a romance always end with a coupled happily ever after. I hope to show with my images that asexual individuals are not lacking anything; we’re simply reshaping what it means to feel want and desire.