eStranged ii - queen of the night

i comb through my curls with relics of european beauty standards, hoping that they will make me pure, desirable, whole again - but they only entangle me in false realities that alienate me from my own skin. like a flower, i shed my petals and bloom into the night, only to wilt by morning. — eStranged ii - queen of the night 'eStranged ii' is part of the 'eStranged' collection - a self-portrait photography series that confronts the feelings of being estranged from the people and places I used to call home. Initially the project was to focus on the alienation I felt after returning to Canada from living in Africa for the last 5 years. The project evolved to address the estrangement that pushed me away from my family at that time, and the fractures that were caused by my parents separating 7 years ago. In each photo, I bring together pieces from both my mother and father’s homes, imagining what our homes would look like if they were still together today. From photo albums to paintings by loved ones, each piece is layered with meaning and pieces of past lives. I place myself at the center of the frame, grappling with my feelings of being out of place - bare and left out in the cold - finding shelter in my own fantasies of home.