My work moves through the layers of identity, memory, and resilience embedded in the Coloured experience in South Africa. Growing up in Belhar on the Cape Flats and later residing in Stellenbosch, my perspective combines the influence of heritage, community, and the evolving search for belonging. Each piece I create—whether a photograph, an installation, or a mixed-media experiment—aims to invite others into the nuanced stories that exist within the Coloured and transgender identity, a complex narrative woven from a history of displacement, adaptation, and survival.

Photography, as my primary medium, has always been a portal to understanding and questioning reality. Through self-portraits, I navigate the intersections of my non-binary and transgender identities, exploring how my physical and emotional transitions interact with memory and self-acceptance. The glass, mirrors, and ice I incorporate symbolize the fragility and transparency of these reflections, helping me confront, heal, and celebrate all versions of myself.

As an artist, I am committed to reclaiming stories and challenging assumptions. My current work with postal stamps, for instance, represents an effort to bridge Coloured identity with accessible art, raising its status in a world often dominated by Western ideals. My goal is to make art a vessel for connection, reflection, and visibility, sharing a South African narrative that is deeply personal yet resonates universally.

This brief is a very personal project in which I allow myself to work through things and create art without bounds. The projects theme is reconstruction and deconstruction which I wish to further explore in my work. Photographs being a mimetic device and a means of recalling memories was what brought this project to life. I have an odd relationship with recalling memories and looking at old photographs because I deal with body dysmorphia as a transgender person. This project allowed me to share some discomfort and try to mend the relationships between my past self and now.

Incorporating glass, mirrors, and ice into your photography is a powerful way to communicate the complexities of self-perception and memory. Here's a refined explanation for how these new mediums will be used in your work:

In my ongoing exploration of identity, I have undergone more physical changes than most people experience in a lifetime. These changes have profoundly affected how I view memories, especially those clouded by the discomfort of gender dysphoria. For someone dealing with dysphoria, the mirror becomes a harsh confrontation, forcing an awareness of a body that feels alien. My memories are often tainted by this discomfort, making it difficult to recall them without reliving the conflicting emotions of being in a body I didn’t yet understand as transgender.

Incorporating photographs of myself before I began hormone therapy serves as a form of healing—allowing me to confront and accept the versions of myself I struggled to connect with. This process is a reclamation of my past, where I honor who I was and embrace who I am now, offering my inner child the acceptance they were denied.

To facilitate this journey, I introduced new mediums—glass, mirrors, and ice—into my photography to visually and symbolically explore the themes of reflection, transparency, and transformation.

• Glass: I use glass as a symbol of fragility and transparency, a material through which we can see but that can also shatter. It represents the vulnerability of confronting painful memories and the fragility of the past versions of myself that I struggled to accept. Glass is incorporated in ways that allow the viewer to look through it, symbolizing the need to see beyond the surface of past identities and toward the deeper truths of my evolving self.

• Mirrors: Mirrors play a critical role in forcing both myself and the viewer to reflect on the complexities of self-perception. The mirror, once my greatest adversary, is now a tool for acceptance. By embedding mirrors within my work, I aim to challenge the discomfort of looking at oneself, creating a space where all versions of me—past and present—can coexist. This illustrates the journey from discomfort to recognition, and finally to acceptance, as I learn to engage with all my reflections, both literal and metaphorical.

• Ice: Ice serves as a representation of the transient nature of memory and identity. As it melts, it symbolizes the gradual process of change and the fluidity of self. The act of something solid becoming liquid mirrors my own transformation—rigid ideas of who I was dissolving into something more fluid and truer. I use ice to alter the physical environment of the photographs, creating distorted reflections and temporary impressions, highlighting the impermanence of dysphoria and the ever-evolving nature of my identity.

Through these mediums, I visually explore the process of healing, showing how I have learned to confront and ultimately accept every version of myself. These elements—glass, mirrors, and ice—create an emotional dialogue between the visible and the invisible, the past and the present, and the act of seeing versus truly being seen.

This approach weaves physical materials with emotional depth, allowing the audience to engage with my journey in a more profound, tactile way.

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