“There is an old Chinese belief called the “Red Thread of Fate”, which is an invisible red string wrapped around the fingers of a pair of soulmates. It connects these two soulmates regardless of place, time, or circumstance in the hopes they will finally come together. I heard this story when I was a small child, and it has stuck with me ever since. The queer/LGBT community has faced countless obstacles that prevent us from freely loving our partners and ourselves, yet we always find our community and each other through the challenges. We bring light into each other’s lives and seem to always make our way back together. I wanted to create a piece of art that emphasized the community that queer people make no matter the circumstances, and how this community adds meaning and love to our lives. In this painting, a hand holding a lit match reaches to light a candle cupped in the other person’s hands. This match lighting the candle is a literal recreation of how queer people add light into each other’s lives. In this painting, a red string tied around a finger of each hand sprawls across the canvas. This red string is from the belief I mentioned earlier, and in this painting, it symbolizes how queer people always find their way back to one another and are never truly alone. More than anything, I wanted to make a piece of art that young queer people can see themselves in and find comfort in b knowing we will always be more than one, and always be a community.”
