I’m Steven, writing to you all from South Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. It’s about a 40m drive southeast of downtown Vancouver. My pronouns are they / them / their, but I don’t get upset if anyone uses he / him by accident.

Photo > Steven Lee. “Displacement.” Flickr, 11 Feb 2023.

The favourite photo of myself that I posted to the group pool is a joiner collage I made when I was hospitalized back in February following a stroke I had on January 31. I took a fair amount of photos when I was in hospital, as it was fairly easy to do, but I was often tired so I didn’t do much written reflection as I posted them. I like making joiners - photographer David Hockney is a British pop artist painter who first started doing these back in the 1970s / 80s. They give the image an analytical cubist feel, similar to the paintings created by Picasso and Braque over 110 years ago.

I’ve had a slow recovery, complicated by injuries to my feet I sustained in July, where the skin on some of my toes peeled off after doing yardwork in sandals where I was hosing down some pathways and porches at my Mom’s house, while wearing sandals. My feet had already been quite dry, so this work didn’t help me any. I remember after doing it for about an hour, looking down and seeing the skin peeling away, and blood mixing in with the water around my feet. I tried healing them on my own, and the left toes have been doing well but the right ones became infected, and very swollen, until the pain was so bad I finally went into the hospital on August 14. Everyday since then, I’ve been on antibiotic IV therapy, with wound treatment every few days. The toes are healing, but it’s taking time, and I’m going to be having six more weeks of IV.

Currently, I’m a third year fine art student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. I love drawing, painting, performance art, photography (both analogue and digital), and sculpture. Themes I explore in my work are related to the changing environment as well as portrayals of the self. I also enjoy writing, and in recent years my writing has focused on creative nonfiction / memoir.

I’ve started the Be Your Own Beloved course a couple of times before but due to ongoing issues with anxiety and major depression, I haven’t finished the program. Perhaps this third time will be lucky? I look forward to getting to know everyone and seeing the images people create.