Individuality Matters is a project that describes my struggle with my religious identity. I was raised in the Methodist Church, attending Sunday services and Sunday school with my family. The concept of God never fully resonated with me, not in a negative way, but because I never truly connected with the idea of a higher power existing.
I currently practice agnosticism, meaning that I believe a higher power might exist, but I choose not to identify with a specific religion. In my freshman year of college, I took a Religious Studies course and was introduced to a variety of religions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. While I had heard of these religions before, my knowledge was limited to just their names. Through the course, I came to appreciate the unique aspects of each religion, and I enjoy learning more about them whenever I can.
I currently practice agnosticism, meaning that I believe a higher power might exist, but I choose not to identify with a specific religion. In my freshman year of college, I took a Religious Studies course and was introduced to a variety of religions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. While I had heard of these religions before, my knowledge was limited to just their names. Through the course, I came to appreciate the unique aspects of each religion, and I enjoy learning more about them whenever I can.
This poster and animation are meant to point out the ignorance that walks alongside religion, since faith typically overshadows the willingness to accept other ideas of creation. While I respect the Christian community and its devotion, I wish that same respect were more often extended toward those with different beliefs and cultures.
The prompt for this project was to ask the question “What Matters?”. This piece represents that identity, culture, and religious afiliations should be respected, and that we should celebrate our differences rather than tearing each other down.
March 2024.
March 2024.
Printed on 11x17 Xerox paper at the VCU Creative Print Bureau, and the animation was made in Adobe Premiere Pro.