Pride and Collaborative Art
If you’re here because you saw my booth at Bloomington-Normal Pridefest, thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you had a good time at Pride, and I’m so grateful for anyone who contributed to my art piece. Follow my Instagram @unfolding.insight or check back here in a few weeks to see photos of the finished project.
We’re Here Because We’re Here
In July 2026, I participated in a pride event in my local community. Working with LGBTQ+ clients has always been one of my specialties, so I wanted to show up for my queer neighbors. To give attendees a reason to come talk to me, I made an art piece that people could contribute to. It’s a bit abstract, so allow me to explain what it means to me!
This essay by John Green has been embedded in my mind for years (skip to 14:48 for the most relevant part, but I recommend giving the whole thing a listen!). It’s a lovely reflection on friendship, grief, and the song “Auld Lang Syne”. I feel particularly nostalgic about the tune, and I am quick to cry at both the song and essay, especially around New Year’s. There’s something special about an old song and old friendship. As Green describes in the essay, the lyrics “We’re here because we’re here because we’re here” were sung with a nihilistic tone reflecting the horrors of war. While this obviously is a grim reference, the simplicity of the lyrics to an old, old song brings to my mind nostalgia and hope. This is further expanded in Green’s video.
Mobius Strips
The Mobius strip is a fascinating…shape? Object? Mathematical problem? You can make one by taking a strip of paper, twisting it once, and taping the edges together. If you trace one side, you’ll find that it smoothly transitions to the other side of the paper without you lifting your finger. It’s like an infinity symbol, but 3D and posing a topological conundrum. How can a 3D object only have one side?
My interest in Mobius strips began when I first saw the art installation “Mobius Ship” at Newfields Museum in Indianapolis, IN. It’s a huge construction–over 10 feet tall!—of a twisted ship. It’s usually displayed in a room by itself, making it feel more imposing. You turn a corner on the top floor of the museum and are suddenly faced with this massive, hulking object. The many sails add visual complexity, and it’s an interesting piece to walk around and try to follow the twisting shapes.
While the infinity symbol is a pretty cliché icon for millennials with tattoos, I love the slight difference in the Mobius strip shape. It’s a fun party trick, it doesn’t make sense, but it also represents ideas that feel integral to my theoretical view of therapy and mental health. We live in spirals. We can keep going. Things may change, but they’ll also stay the same. We’ll always be ourselves; we’ll always be reinventing. Things can get twisted, but they’re simple in other ways.
Pride and Hope
What else shall we celebrate but the enduring existence of queerness? We’re all plenty aware of the attacks on queer and trans people. They’re not new, unfortunately, but they’re always disheartening. Heartbreaking. Devastating. In contrast, we must celebrate, we must have hope. We must make art. We must dance. We must love. We must work together, be together.
“During the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, we buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced all night. The dance kept us in the fight because it was the dance we were fighting for. It didn’t look like we were going to win then and we did. It doesn’t feel like we’re going to win now but we could. Keep fighting, keep dancing.”
-Dan Savage
To finish the art piece, I plan to paint the edges, add glitter, glue beads and mosaic pieces, and make sure the Mobius strip is filled with the phrase “we’re here because we’re here because…”. I love multimedia art, so I’ll keep adding bits and bobs until it feels complete to me.
For me, the use of a Mobius strip in this art piece symbolizes that we have been here and we will always be here. Queerness has always existed and will always exist. I am here. You are here. We are here, together, not alone. Hope isn’t foolish, as John Green says in his essay. “We live in hope that life will get better and, more importantly, that it will go on. That love will survive, even though we will not.”
This is ultimately just a piece of art that will hang in my office, but I’m honored by the people that choose to collaborate with me. I hope this will serve as a reminder to people that we’re here together. We have always been, and will always be. Stay queer, folks.
