Reimagining Masculinity: Sculpted Flesh

Oftentimes in queer art, cutting and stitching are used as symbols of oppression and violence. Stitching myself together is not an act of destruction, but rather one of radical self-love. I mend my body with warmth and fondness and allow myself comfort in my own skin—in my own identity. My masculinity is not a suit of armor that put on in the morning and shed at night, it does not hide my tears from the world or push thorns into my side. It is the kindness that I approach the world with, the tenderness stitched into my very being.