A.B. Art
It’s been quite a journey, but here I am. When I was six or seven, I began drawing cartoons. I was obsessed with being an artist when I grew up. I would always sign my creations with my initials A.B. I even made a special symbol for myself. In 2021, I decided to listen to my little artist and adopt this moniker as my legal name, adding Art as my surname. Soon, I will graduate with my Ph.D. in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Performance Studies. I will be then be Dr. Art. Signing my name every day reminds me that I choose to be both an artist and a scholar.
Education
I started school at Moorpark College where I competed in Speech and Debate and fell in love with Communication wrapping up with my Associates Degree in 2006. I transferred to Arizona State University and got my B.A. in Communication Studies with a minor in Women and Gender Studies, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2008. I worked as a Teaching Associate at CSUN, teaching and coaching the speech and debate team, graduating with my M.A. in Communication Studies in 2010. After teaching for a few years, I decided to move to Southern Illinois to pursue my Ph.D. in Performance studies at Southern Illinois University.
This multimedia work began with a digital drawing of me in drag. I printed it and laid it over a rainbow painting I did with my daughter. It is overlaid with cellatape transfers and actual cut outs of the documents required to do my legal name change. It documents the multi-layered nature of identity and the beaurocracy required to transform.