Grace Calvert

RS: In what ways have you experienced touch, or how has touch changed for you through the pandemic?
GC: Before the pandemic, I was often found in large social situations where I could be around a lot of people - concerts, parties, events, etc; when the pandemic began, I was forced to isolate because of some major issues with my lungs in the past. Even then, I was in a relationship with a live-in partner, and did not experience the same isolation or lack of touch others did until we broke up at the beginning of this year. Experiencing that for the first time during a period where most of the world had already come to terms with it or was able to safely be in some social situations was very difficult; luckily, I got vaccinated pretty early this year and have been able to start seeing a few people.


RS: How do you define and or understand resilience as it relates to owning an identity that is marginalized?
GC: I have always personally understood resilience as a marginalized person as the drive to keep going, to exist in a world that does not try to make space for you and often actively works against that goal.


RS: How does Austin play a role in your experience of touch and or resiliency?
GC: I moved to Austin from a small town in Texas, and saw it as a shining paradise where I could finally unapologetically and more safely be myself, a place where I had space. I'm a bit more jaded now, but Austin will always be so, so important to me and my journey as a gay woman.


RS: What was your experience in creating your skin prints? 
GC: I was with a friend and coworker when I made them; she's an artist and was very interested, so we had a nice conversation about the project and how I found it (an Instagram ad I think?). Things like this definitely give me a certain awareness of my body that I usually do not have.


RS: Where on your body did you choose to create your prints from? Why were/are these spots important to you? 
GC: I chose a birthmark that several members of my family have and my tattoo that is a still from Portrait of a Lady on Fire, both on my right leg; I have always been fascinated by the idea of permanent additions to my body, especially tattoos. My grandfather had several tattoos that I always thought were super cool, and the flowers included around the focal point of my tattoo are all species that he grew in his garden. Family members that would discourage me from getting tattoos often talked about how they were permanent; I would always say that I already had a birthmark I couldn't get rid of, so what difference did a tattoo make? I love my tattoo and see it as a permanent love letter to women that cannot be taken away from me.