I Was a 20th Century Lesbian > 1: The Curse

Moku hanga woodblock print by Annie Bissett with text: the words I love you covered with anti-gay hate words
I LOVE YOU
Japanese woodblock (mokuhanga)
14.5" x 20.5" (37 x 52.4 cm)

Many gay people struggle to reconcile the exhilarating and precious experience of falling in love with the hostile messages in our society. I often turn to language in my art as a kind of testimony of what is. The words in this piece are all words that have been used to describe homosexuals in the past 50 years or so.

12" x 17.75" (30.5 x 45 cm) image size
made with 3 shina plywood blocks
5 hand-rubbed color layers
Nishinouchi paper
Edition: 8