Ellyott’s images use metaphor to describe a range of emotions he feels. The images are about Ellyott’s gender identity, and the journey he has been on. The final work was presented in a large grid form and it was accompanied by a poem.
Fear
You sit there taking in the torment
Their lies, your lies and you think about
the roughness of it all and yet you sit quietly
Is this because you are a good person and don’t
want to sink to their level or is it because
you are so scared, so unconfident and weak
That if you lift a finger your world will fall apart
I am helpless, trapped inside my mind, people
see me differently to how I see myself
I look out at the world with eyes that aren’t even mine
That name I hate, those pronouns I despise
They say to me that I’m a beautiful girl and
that I should be myself but how
can I be proud of something that isn’t even mine, a
fake, a lie
Don’t turn around, don’t turn back, you are closer to
the light than you ever were before but this is still a
long black hole in front of you behind you
and everywhere you look you still stay
strong and push through because
you know there is freedom on the otherside of
that darkness that you know so well
The sun sets and rises again, everyday the same
I use my skin as a mask, hiding what’s really there
I know you want the best for me, to shield me from the
hard stone cold floor they call reality. Yes I know you
love me, but love me for who I really am instead of some friendly stranger
And let me go as your daughter and come back as your son.
By Elyott Cheesburger, 2016
