This piece, titled ‘Tempest, A’ was created specifically for the T’ArtPress exhibition in Hackney, September 2022.
I wanted to create something that explored both the macro and micro experiences of neurodivergent and queer people living in London - and to showcase specifically the emotional chaos and mental or psychological mess that directly clashes with the strict, systemic form of contemporary capitalist and consumerist environments.
In the bottom left you can see the city itself, coded with binary symbols for gender, sex, money, day and night.
Yet my characters appear too large and chaotic to fit within the city walls and instead swirl around the outside.
It’s unclear if they have escaped, been banished, gotten lost or simply never been a part of the city itself - but there is a stark contrast between the rigid, systemic walls of the cityscape and the free-form flowing chaos of the world outside.
Out in the world beyond, forms of nature thrive and bring balance to an otherwise human centric universe.
Snakes, plants, leaves and even fire are not just present, but equal counterparts to humanity.
The characters themselves seem to have no particular hierarchy, though they do bare symbols of luck, fortune and finances.
Their world is not unaffected by the structure of the city and in fact they still appear to be very much entrapped within some form of structure that is noticeably at odds with their untethered forms.
Keen eyes will also spot references to kink, sexual contact and dating - again, with a sense of both freedom and difficulty.
A harness glows with potential and possibility, whilst a phone sits untouched between three separated figures.
A balance rune is guarded by one character while another dances in a rain-drenched starry night on the city’s precipice.
There are no rules, but equally no paths to follow either.
At the centre of the piece sits the symbol for the world, with the 4 elements of Earth, Air, Water and Fire tumbling below.
Above, an aeroplane flies upside down through an unmapped sky.
When I signed this piece, I did so in a way as to create confusion and ambiguity regarding which way ‘up’ the painting should go - to add further towards exemplifying the experience of myself as a queer person with ADHD and OCD trying to find the right way of doing everything according capitalism at large.
I also added some lightning bolts to the sky around the aeroplane - as a final flourish of drama - showcasing the sense of panic, overwhelm and fear that I so often feel when trying to navigate the way ahead.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my design process for this piece. If you like what you see, please support my work by interacting with this post and clicking the ‘like’ button or giving my profile a follow.
You can also find me on VERO @cult_of_rae - visit my website - or donate to my Buy Me A Coffee page (links to all of these are on my profile page)
Please also take some time to visit
https://www.t-artpress.co.uk
and see all of the wonderful things that Finn, Coco and Lucie have been doing with this fantastic publication and events platform!
Rae is an intersex, trans, non-binary artist and activist from London, UK.
Working across multiple disciplines, their work calls into question the very foundations of predisposed physical, biological and metaphysical notions upon which prevailing contemporary culture is built.
Rae’s work highlights intersex, trans and neurodiverse experiences, places non binary bodies as visually centric, and transcends intersections between colonialist and imperialist domination of gender, race, culture, environment, mental health, neurodivergence and sex.
