Could I have loved with less abandon? 2011

Flagging is the subversive, non-verbal practice of communicating one’s sexual
proclivities by placing a colored handkerchief in the back pocket. While historically
used in gay male communities, queer communities have appropriated the use of this handkerchief code, making space for femmes, dykes, transsexuals, genderqueers, and other radical gender identities. Could I have loved with less abandon? celebrates this queer appropriation, and investigates the ways that this coded yet explicit language
is part of a public discourse on desire.

My work seeks to further queer and complicate the public discourse to include an
analysis of the barriers to and potentialities of sustained love and desire. While
flagging reflects our rawest and most lustful infatuations, it demands both longing
and vulnerability. This project honors queer sexuality while examining the impact of
trauma on our relationships, and acknowledges healing as a primal human desire.