A Crude Illustration of Intersectionality Made Present:

Reflecting on the power art has to illuminate a pathway.
August 2021



    There is a saying that appears in science fiction movies: the quickest path between two locations is a straight line. I think about how life is presented as a linear experience. How we are taught to traverse this plane constantly acknowledging the finite nature of our individual and collective existences.

    If we were to view our lives, these linear passages as more than a one-dimensional experience, we can see that from another angle, that straight line is actually a system of peaks and valleys. It may actually read more like the display upon a heartbeat monitor.

    Yet, still, within this same construct, we must also acknowledge the presence of others along this path. The individuals that arrive when we reach the valley’s pit and those that are present while we peak. These individual’s lives are also attached to our paths.

    However, it is not always presented so directly, the impact or the importance of others. In some instances, an underlying theme, experience or occurrence weaves itself into the lives of these individuals. In those moments, we are made aware of our interdependence and reliance upon others and are forced to acknowledge the intersectionalities of our existences.

    In this space you are able to see the overlapping dimensionalities that bind us to one another. In this space you can identify how important each individual is to the system and the amount of agency we possess as a whole.

    I learned this from making art.