The day before my show opened, I participated in an unrelated community collaboration / brainstorming event.
I was paired with a Filipino woman and we were to talk for a few minutes about what was alive for us.
Having just come from putting the finishing touches on my first solo art show, I told her about it.
Me: It’s about addressing secrets, taboos we hold emotionally in our bodies that contort us when we can’t be honest about them and let them out.
She: Is it paintings, photography?
Me: Wellll, I do it through provocative doilies.
She: Oh? Tell me the worst doily you’ve made.
I considered the gorgeous onyx and gold cross around her neck.
Me: Really?
She: Yes, tell me the worst one, the worst message.
Me: O … kay … well, I made a cock that’s big enough to go over the back of a chair … I demonstrated with my hands flowing over the back of my chair. She was already laughing. Encouraged, I added the next detail about the spray and she was doubled over in her chair with more laughter.
Me: I’m curious exactly what part is funny for you.
She: You don’t look like someone who would do that!!
Me: Well, I was considering the cross you were wearing and wasn’t sure it would be a good thing to share this.
We laughed many more times that afternoon as we passed each other to join different groups. It is not lost on me that I was having my own stereotypically-tending brain blown just like she was. How pleasant.