“PLASTIC MARY”
BY ISABEL RAE (SHE/HER)
@ISABEL.RAE
ARTIST BIO:
Isabel Rae is a lesbian Photographer who grew up in rural Georgia. Her portraits explore the tension of growing up queer in the rural south. Her work asks what it means to be fully seen and what it costs when you are not. Isabel leans into existing in her queer joy and lives in Alaska with her partner, Abby now.
“Hiding who you are creates a feeling of suffocation and fear.
Through the medium of photography, I explore the loss of personal identity and the many masks we use to hide who we truly are from the world around us. As a lesbian and member of the queer community my work centers around my feelings and experiences existing and growing up in the Deep South outside the norms of western society.
I am in a constant and obsessive search for the sublime. It feels like standing on a treacherous cliff staring directly into a massive wave that is heading right towards you. You can not escape your demise so you take a breath and lean into this last moment of terror stricken beauty.
It feels like your heart is covered in mucus and your brain is full of fog; the sweetest suffocation. Chest so heavy you struggle to catch your breath.
In those rare moments, by the grace of god, you are allowed a full breath. Perhaps that could be comparable to experiencing the sublime. My tongue is heavy in my mouth, and I often feel like a stranger in my own skin. I’m on fire, and I spilled my guts all over the carpet; she looked at me and said “The mop is in the closet.” and walked out the door. I rolled over, laid in my own bile, stared up at the ceiling, and thought I saw stars: turns out it was just floaters in my eyes.”
Tell us a bit about the piece you're submitting! (Why did you write it, inspiration, why it's important etc.)*:
“I create art to calm the fire in my skin and the racing in my heart. It teeters between a want and a need. It allows me to bring a visuality to the feelings that I can't quite put words to but seems at the same time universal to my community.
Making art that honors queer bodies and difficult feelings has brought me into the folds of the queer community and I don't know know what I would do with out. We exist in love, we exist in joy and we lean on each other.”
