The series “On ne naît pas gay, on le devient” is a tribute to all those fabulous actresses and their inimitable characters who personify modern woman, to the amazing Stephen FRY as Oscar Wilde, and to a ground-breaking philosopher. For they have taught me much about love, life and becoming...

The title of the exhibition, “On ne naît pas femme, on le devient”, is a quote borrowed from the revolutionary French philosopher and feminist Simone DE BEAUVOIR who shone new light on becoming the authentic ‘female’ self.

DE BEAUVOIR empowered women to question and relinquish the shackles of the idealised incidental feminine myth – the mother, the nurturer, the virgin, the whore –defined by society, by parents, by lovers with reference to man and always as ‘the other’, to discover their authentic feminine self. She demanded that modern woman must transcend through her own will and responsibility whatever the risks or dangers, to go out into the world on equal terms and to become...

DE BEAUVOIR inspired women to learn, to experience, to experiment, to travel, to grow, to create, to become... AUTHENTIC...

So too, with the homosexual (other): your (straight) parents, your siblings, your peers, your friends, your teacher, your lovers, your boss, your society... all meaning well will make  demands of you, lovingly carve out dreams for you, errantly seek to define the-self for you...  They cannot endow you with your-Self, we must each go out into the world and become our best authentic Self.

On this wonderful journey, those actors and actresses, characters and inspirations, and not least De BEAUVOIR have always been present, the best of friends who have helped me realise my most authentic absolutely fabulous self!