For this piece, I wanted to create a classical nude, but as a non-binary trans person, I felt uncomfortable telling the story of a body that wasn’t my own. There are very few representations of bodies I can relate to, so I decided to create one myself.

The figure was inspired by the Apollo Belvedere, a classical Roman marble from the second century AD that lives in the Vatican Museum. Considered an aesthetic ideal for centuries, it felt appropriate to use in this context. What is the ideal form, anyway? Ideal for whom?



I used vintage nautical maps to build the background and archway, and Apollo is rendered in watercolor, with detail and texture layered on with gouache, colored pencil, and metallic ink.