Sweden
Annette
A bisexual/lesbian woman, age 68
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Annette told:
To grow old as a human being, as a woman, in a world steeped in heteronormative culture.
I work toward becoming whole, to rest in myself as genuinely complete.
I wish to age with dignity, to feel safe in the passage of years.
Can I?
The day comes when I can no longer care fully for myself, when I need the touch of others’ care—
then I want to be seen, to be met, as simply human.
I will no longer affirm men who desire me.
Though I have named myself bisexual, in the depths of my soul I cannot love men in intimate, sexual closeness.
I carry a woman’s body.
I have been graced with the power to bring forth children—
borrowed lives that have filled me with the purest love of my soul and mind.
And if, against all odds, I should one day meet a partner in love,
I know she will be a woman.
Within me lives both darkness and light—Yin and Yang—
I stand rooted, in touch with the feminine and the masculine within.
It is time to define myself lesbian/homosexual.
This poem (translated from Swedish) and sculptures in clay are made by Annette, a bisexual/lesbian woman in her sixties. The sculptures are combined with paintings Annette did in the 1990’s and positioned as if the sculptures are looking back on and reflecting on the past.
About the project in Sweden
Artist Sam Hultin led writing excercises which resulted in creative writings and artworks by participants. The exhibition features paintings, installations and sculptures as well as a film by Hultin which brings together the creative writings of several project participants.
