Purple Pansies Print

I was an excellent target for bullying as a teenager. I was Asian, skinny, and gay. And like everyone else, I tried hard to fit in with little success. Thank goodness those years are over; nobody can pay me enough to relive them. LOL.

Childhood was a terrifying time for gay youth like myself. So for Pride 2023, I wanted to create something to commemorate having survived it—a piece that's a marker of resistance, strength, and triumph in our early lives.

The symbolism explained:

1. The color purple. Before Gilbert Baker's iconic rainbow flag, purple symbolized resistance and power amongst western queer communities. It is why I assigned purple as the painting's dominant hue due to its historical and cultural significance.

2. The pansy flowers. For those unfamiliar, calling someone a pansy means calling them "a weak, effeminate, and often cowardly individual (mostly targeting gay men)." Otherwise, pansies are more popularly known as bold and beautiful garden flowers. The irony, right? In this the context of this illustration, the purple pansies represent the strong and defiant gay individuals who were bullied growing up.

3. The bouquet vs. single flower. Representing "strength in numbers." The gaze of flowers towards the viewer was designed to resemble those same bullied individuals now standing together as an alliance, watching each others' backs, supporting one another in the face of danger. We are never truly alone in our battles.