Belle-Pilar Fleming
Something in the Hands
This project examines lineage and identity formation within the spaces of queer archives, particularly as it pertains to the lives of queer women. Archives manifest in a myriad of different forms, from the personal collection to the institutional body, often holding a record of both struggle and triumph. At a time when our country is reckoning with a legacy of injustice, historic collections can shed light on the traumas of the past, reveal the persistence of human agency, and offer suggestions for a more equitable future.
Much of this work draws on source materials found in the Ohio Lesbian Archive in Cinncinati, OH, as well as the Lesbian Herstory Archive in Brooklyn, NY, and additionally includes items of my own collecting (such as photographs, and personal testimonies). These materials straddle a line between the personal and the institutional, at once anonymous and yet deeply interpersonal. The physical space of the archive itself, as well as the subjects which its materials address, are equal points of interest in my work. Viewers are invited to consider the archive as an affective space as well as one where negotiations of visibility, personal experience, and political realities are interwoven.