STILL HERE
Perseverance, strength and endurance through times of uncertainty and fear. Not being silenced and erased by the societal norms which pervade us. To me, “Still Here” means continuing to exist even after uncertainty, change, rejection, or loss. It is a quiet kind of resilience — not always dramatic, not always confident, but persistent.
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It means showing up again, carrying everything that has happened, and still allowing yourself to be seen, to feel, and to keep becoming. For me, "Still Here" is a declaration of survival. After being disowned by my family for being Queer and autistic, I had to walk away from everything, including my home, becoming homeless, just to survive.
Art found me later in life, offering a lifeline for my mental wellness and a profound visual language to express what words sometimes cannot. Today, my multidisciplinary practice is how I claim my space, honour my resilience, and live completely and authentically as myself. I am still here, living life and creating on my own terms. Despite the way various countries have laws and policies against queer people, we are here and will always exist.
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Artists:
As often queer people have to 'mask' a lot to fit in better, I want to make music that sounds like this unmasked behind doors space, that's what psychosomatic sounds like! "Still Here" feels like a very important statement to me. I have experienced struggles with my mental health and have been persistently resilient through this to keep on being my true authentic self.
VIDEO
Queer people have always existed, in body, mind and spirit. Despite efforts across the world to erase us in full or in part, we remain. Still Here is a simple statement of that fact, and a complex one beneath its surface. To exist and to demand to be seen, in the face of whatever opposition or oppression we meet, draws on a sacred legacy of resilience, strength, power and what can only be called queer magic. Still Here is a celebration of the joy
of being queer as much as it is a statement of defiance. For me, that legacy lives in the body. These self-portraits, under the title Still Sacred, come from a practice of returning to the body as a place of spirit rather than shame, honouring what religion and culture have too often told queer people to hide. Being still, being present in my own skin, is itself an act of both survival and celebration. As someone who has been HIV+ for 35+ years,
WRITING
A personal exploration of sapphic desire and the lesbian experience in a society where our relationships are seen as illegitimate, yet desirable. Often used both as a tool of fetishisation by men, and as a place of refuge from misogynistic dominance by straight women, lesbian relationships are rarely viewed as real love, but as a space for experimentation and of pure sexualisation. The piece explores genuine sapphic desire, taking inspiration from folklore and nature, and paying homage to queer female artists including The Last Dinner Party, Florence Road, and Chappell Roan who legitimise queerness and sapphic love through their work.
In her short essay Creation, Eibhlín unearths the smothering reality of compulsory heterosexuality and the freedom a queer life offers.
A story of queer love in an isolated medieval priory on a small Scottish island: a stolen relic, an unspoken promise, and a pair of soul-friends.
"Still Here" speaks to the persistence of people, identities and histories that have repeatedly been censored, erased or declared unwelcome. My work draws on religious imagery and art history to question who is permitted to be visible and who is asked to disappear. By revisiting works shaped by centuries of institutional power, I reclaim spaces where queer lives have long existed but have often been concealed through shame, censorship or omission
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Artist:
To me, "Still Here" is not simply about survival. It is about insisting on visibility. Despite changing laws, social attitudes and cultural gatekeepers, attempts to regulate bodies, desire and identity continue in new forms. My practice responds by imagining spaces of belonging, joy and scrutiny, suggesting that what has been hidden has never truly disappeared. We have always been here.
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for what they believe before us, need us now to follow in their footsteps. We cannot be broken because when everything else is built on fear, we are built on love. Our names are remembered, and we cannot be forced into an apathetic statistic forgotten in the Sunday paper. While they fight to erase us, we will always be here as witnesses and advocates of freedom to simply be ourselves.
Still Here is an online exhibition bringing together the work of over 20 LGBTQIA+ artists working across visual art, photography, film, sound and writing.
Rather than presenting a single narrative, the exhibition offers a collection of individual responses to the idea of still here - an invitation to reflect on identity, memory, joy, resistance, care and the many ways we continue to exist, create and connect.
Take your time. Wander through the archive. Return often.
Help us keep creating spaces like this
Flos Collective is a small, artist-led Community Interest Company. We create opportunities for women, trans and gender-diverse artists through exhibitions, festivals, workshops and community projects.
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