lesbianartandartists:Happy/L.A. Hyder, Self Portrait at 40, 1987I feel all my work is informed by wh
lesbianartandartists:Happy/L.A. Hyder, Self Portrait at 40, 1987I feel all my work is informed by who I am as a lesbian. That no matter what it is, it’s lesbian art…I want to be visible as a lesbian and as an artist, to be able to hold my identity wherever I am and still be included in non-lesbian-identified art exhibits and non-sexual art exhibits. I think most of the art we see that is identified as done by lesbians has a sexual context. I have no problem with art with a sexual content, but that’s almost all that’s shown unless we put our own exhibits together or we go to places that are alternative. I’ve been thinking about censorship and I have a question. Do we tend sometimes in our lesbian content or in our desire to do lesbian content, to censor ourselves so we don’t get censored? Is lesbian art inherently political art? I don’t think so. Although saying I’m a lesbian gives it a kind of a curve, it’s a political act by an artist. I wonder when a curator who likes my work and wants to put it in an exhibition learns I’m a lesbian, is that going to color their decision? To identify as a lesbian is often to take a risk.source -- source link