Q. How does your work incorporate your queerness and how important do you feel queerness in arts & culture is?
My work is an outlet I use to process difficult thoughts and feelings
It was particularly useful when it came to questioning my sexuality, having grown up in a relatively traditional family, being from a small town, and not really having any idea how I could have a fulfilling existence in anything other than a heterosexual relationship. (Heteronormative culture at it’s finest!)”
I often question the validity of my sexuality and queerness, and have found that creating pieces that touch on these topics tend to encourage others to share their worries and stories. It’s comforting to know we aren’t alone in these thoughts, and you aren’t the only one grappling with these challenging emotions.
Q. How important is it to be able to have a space that you can express yourself as a Bi artist / creator?
I feel that it’s absolutely vital that there’s a safe space for bisexual artists/creators to express themselves. As part of a subgroup within a much larger and particularly vibrant community, it is easy to feel overlooked.
I feel that having a bi-specific space to creatively vent allows exploration, growth and celebration of a subgroup that may otherwise never take centre stage. Publications such as Unicorn are important for giving the bisexual community a platform to celebrate itself and appreciate it’s quirks and nuances, ones that differ from the experiences of the rest of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Q. If you had one piece of advice for your younger self (looking back now) what would it be and why?
Stay weird. Don’t conform to the expectations of those around you.
Q. What do you want people to take away from your work?
I would like people to see a little bit of themselves within my art. To feel included, represented and heard. I pour a little bit of myself into everything I create – I feel most vulnerable when I share my art. For others to see it, relate and in turn, feel less alone in their vulnerabilities is something I aim for.
When asked how she’d sum up the wonder that is the bi community in one sentence she said:
Ever evolving, confusing and forever meme-worthy. Unable to sit correctly in chairs
Bee Anderson
She / Her | Edinburgh | Illustrator
After accidentally falling into art becoming her career, Bee, a 21yr old illustrator from Devon, uses art as therapy after suffering from mental health issues in her late teens.
She explores elements of herself that she finds difficult to vocalise and primarily explores themes of queerness, feminism, politics, and mental health. Art allows her to process challenging topics in her own way.
