Art Project about being queer and questioning your identity/ sexuality?

Sounds a bit cliché so far - to me, at least.
Maybe make it murky and unclear to represent confusion. A solemn expression. Thought bubbles. Words floating around the page. Or several smaller paintings - on one or many pages - with different expressions - different stages of certainty/uncertainty/insecurity.

I'm just throwing ideas about, so pick and mix (or leave) as you will.

 

jumping on the idea posted above. If you can do multiple paintings why not the five stages of acceptance. Each one has a way to work with gender identity and sexual orientation questioning.

 

So I take it your main theme is about confusion and identity? Well, there are quite a few ways you could go about this. To emphasise the conclusion, your self portrait could have no face, or perhaps you could have different versions of you arguing in the painting. You could have a greyscale you (to represent the "you" that identified as straight) with a "you" in bi or rainbow colours trapped behind the pupils of the greyscale you as if trying to get out. You could have inside your head a tangle of lines meant to represent your trains of thought. You could have a word cloud of all the words inside your head (e.g. doubt, fear, shame, uncertainty, apprehension...) and outside your head a speech bubble with the words you choose to display to others.

Just a few ideas, most of what I'd paint (if I could XD) would involve an illustration of what's going on in my mind, probably juxtaposed with what comes out of my mouth, or one with several different versions of me arguing/fighting. Or, a combination of the two. But that's just how I'd do it, so those are a few ideas but do it how you want in the end!

 

Oh, how interesting! Yes, this sounds like a wonderful art project.

Maybe you could do some sort of reflection thing? One person is who you are, the other is the opposite, who you were when in stages of denial/confusion? Be sure to use lots of dark colors/grayscale to convey the confusion and then bright colors to convey hope and optimism.

Do you have to do a painting or can you do a colored drawing? Because if you want words in the picture I'd suggest using colored pencils instead. They're less messy, you can write with them, they're easier to mix, though you can't color over them if you make a mistake. You could also use some oil pastels... I'm rambling about art mediums now. XD Good luck with the project!

 

Because it's something personal, I think it's best to go with the flow. I wouldn't call your idea cliche either: think about it this way. How many people would dare make a picture like that? It'd be the most original project, simply because no one else would ever think to draw it. For my art project, I drew someone, who represented myself, back to back with another girl, and all the things I wish I could tell her exploding from my head, but personified by monsters. Most people didn't get it, but a few others did: and all of those people were queer like me! I find the best pieces are when you speak to a specific audience. Something that seems ambiguous at first, but comes clear when when you look closer into it. Good luck with your piece!!!(!)

 

This sounds awesome! I love art!

Your idea sounds really cool and it's great that it's more personal and relates to you too. Perhaps you could put things in the background that represent different sexualities or different things people say about sexuality and have you looking at them/thinking about them. Maybe a same-sex couple together, some LGBT+ related signs/posters, quotes from people about sexuality or things people say a lot/misconceptions, the flags of different sexualities, etc. Or maybe even just having the LGBT+ flag across the whole background.
Or you could paint yourself in the middle of a crowd, but kind of separate from them. And everyone else walking around could represent all the different possibilities/sexualities/paths and you could just be standing in the middle looking around at people, thinking about where you fall with them.
Hope these ideas help! But I'm sure whatever you do will turn out great. Your idea was really cool and I can tell you're very artistic