Becca Carey

RS: In what ways have you experienced touch, or how has touch changed for you through the pandemic?RM: Touch is one of my top love languages, and hugs from friends and family were suddenly snatched from my life in the pandemic.


RS: How do you define and or understand resilience as it relates to owning an identity that is marginalized?RM: Rest. As a recovering workaholic (as we are all conditioned to be), I prioritize and hold my rest sacred.


RS: How does Austin play a role in your experience of touch and or resiliency?
RM: The environment here is more supportive of my identity, which makes it easier to rest.


RS: What was your experience in creating your skin prints? I thought about the RM: changing relationship I’ve had with my body throughout my life, and immense gratitude for my body now.


RS: Where on your body did you choose to create your prints from? Why were/are these spots important to you? 
RM: I chose my leg, as I made the choice to stop shaving my leg hair years ago, along with my stomach, which was the major part of my body I would self-harm during my eating disordered years.


RS: Is there anything else you’d like to share about your story?
RM: I grew up fundamentalist Christian, so owning my own body has been an immense fight for survival. To realize that I was gay and attracted to the female body added its own layer of complexity that I didn’t understand until the pandemic. Without the presence of family or society, I realized who I was still performing for and who I wanted to be without that performance.