Savanna Leigh: While I Breathe, I Hope

I recently heard a rather disturbing statistic:

The most victimized group of people are those of the transgender community.

I'm not sure if that's true, or even if it can be proved, but it still got me thinking. I did a little research. I learned that in 2009 alone, there were 147 transgender murders internationally. 18 of them were in DC/Baltimore. And that's only what has been reported. Excluding non-fatal violence and abuse. That is a huge number.

For Advanced Drawing 3, we were assigned to create a 2D work based on a statistic of our choosing. I remembered hearing those figures, and designed my project around it.

I mounted a canvas on hardboard and stenciled these Latin words:

"Dum Spiro, Spero."

"While I breathe, I hope"

I asked people to kiss the canvas with lipstick. 147 kisses, 147 murders. I asked straight men and women, queer men and women, people who identify outside of the gender normative, liberals, conservatives, people with disabilities, people from different races.

We're all in this together, after all.

I asked if I could take their pictures. Here are a few of my favorites: