• “The memoir is, at its core, an act of resurrection. Memoirists re-create the past, reconstruct dialogue. They summon meaning from events that have long been dormant. They braid the clays of memory and essay and fact and perception together, smash them into a hall, roll them flat. They manipulate time; resuscitate the dead. They put themselves, and others, into necessary context” -Carmen Maria Machado

• “I hold one thickly braided cord as story"  -Cherrie Moraga

What do queer lives look like? In a world that privileges and rewards heterosexuality, how have queer people throughout history carved out paths for themselves?  This project examines the material realities of queer people throughout history. In doing so, this project searches for characteristics common across queer lives, using memoirs, in an attempt to better understand queer identities.

The “X” in the title stands for multiplication, multiplicity, exponential change and movement: infinite multiples in every direction. It stands for the movement of queer identity: a sign that indicates an action in itself. These memoirs are alive; they live, they breathe, and they change through every read.

Interestingly, the primary subject of many of these queer memoirs is not the author's life as one might expect. Instead, the writers examine the life of another in order to understand their own. For example, in My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland, the events of Shapland's life are presented in tandem with uncovering fragments of Carson's life: "Carson is changing as I write about her, and so am I" (119). In Native Country of the Heart, Cherrie Moraga seeks to understand her identity through unearthing pieces of her mother's life: "Ostensibly, in search of my mother's history, it was my own buried remains I sought. But how do you dig up amnesia?" (180)

Just as these writers write about others in order to understand themselves, through the reading of these stories, I too am contributing to the story of my own life and crafting a deeper understanding of my own self in the process. I feel grateful to have spent so much time in the presence of such incredible people and storytellers. 

I hope that you learn something new about yourself by exploring this exhibit, just as I did in the process of creating it. 

Welcome to the exhibit

-Rhyan