Hunger Premiere: check out the photobook exploring coming-of-age and identity

[C]oming of age in Generation Z is an experience like no other: evolving, finding your identity, feeling peer pressures and leaving childhood memories behind. Jheyda McGarrell felt all of this as she approaches her 20th birthday and leaves the teen years behind, and decided to express it in a photobook. As a photographer and curator at Art Hoe Collective, she decided to create an archival reflection on coming-of-age: entitled Becoming the Woman You’d Want Me to Be, the focus of the book is “an artistic interpretation on reflection, on who I am, who the people around me view me as, and who I desire to be”, McGarrell explained. We caught up with Jheyda McGarrell to find out what it meant for her to grow and pass through the teenage years…

What made you decide to create your photobook?

It was kind of a spur of the moment decision during a period of realization. I sat down with my thoughts following a couple various occurrences that lead me to question the process of growth and time in general. In the last couple of years, I have experienced so many different subsections of time, the way it functions, and how different people in different places experience time and life in general. I really hit a decision to create it when I noticed an intersection in my thoughts between my cousin telling me she was inspired through my fearlessness of “experiencing [my] own phases [of interest, existence, myself] at [my] own pace” and a quote I had read about the act of becoming and the fearlessness it requires to let go of what we once were to become anything grander. In my own form, releasing this book is an act of letting go in my personal journey in becoming. So I guess I decided to create it as funeral procession and shrine to my own youth and my artistic process of this time period, an ode to time passing, and to the process of letting go in order to seek growth, personal and artistic. 

How do you feel as a creative in the current political climate?

The current political climate is very draining and painful for many to live through, but I also believe that we can use it to reinvigorate our sense of purpose. I personally have found much inspiration in those around me, through their ability to unapologetically be themselves even while being heavily oppressed by the political climate. The strength many of my peers have shown inspires me to use my voice to not only highlight the struggle of marginalized communities I am part of but to create work with the intention of reflecting the turbulent time we live in. I am inspired by many queer artists of color from 80’s new york because they were facing very similar conditions (ie AIDS outbreak, poverty, lack of accessible healthcare, a cold war, etc) and today we look to them to lend commentary about revolutions and strength, so I believe now it is our time to take their places. To make art that encapsulates and reflects our time and issues, whether it be it conceptual or documentary. 

Who or what has had the greatest influence on your work?

The greatest influence to my work has been my family. Being that my fathers side is Guyanese (British caribbean) and my mother is Mexican, my family is comprised of so many different races, skin tones, sexualities, etc all located in various portions of the world. Witnessing how the differences in location, age, race, etc influence their biases and what they accept has been a microcosm for me to study the real world. Even visiting my family who live in Mexico and Guyana has shown to me my level of privilege while presenting me with a romanticized view of the simplicity that people in the areas, experience joy in. The exploration of my own cultures has presented with me with juxtaposing philosophies on how to find my own place in time and in the world. 

Has being a part of Art Hoe Collective influenced much change in your work?

Definitely, for a time being I was stuck in this place of making work that I thought was what people wanted of me, but instead of reflecting me and my life/ideals, I was actually just adhering to and promoting what society perceives as marketable and eurocentric beauty ideals pertaining to desirable femininity. The members of Art Hoe and the events we have thrown/participated in, have shown to me that growth, changes, and process are all welcome and are things to be open to instead of afraid of.  Also in this collective, I have found a second family. Just how my family has served me as an example of pluralism and multiculturalism, Art Hoe’s members have shown me the same things but brimming with complete acceptance and ideologies of higher level thinking in terms of social advancement. In virtue of these, I was validated with the importance of community. Through my association, I have found a mental space wherein I can identify and celebrate my heritage, rejoice in my queerness, and learn how to fully experience and appreciate the process of becoming. They have truly taught me the complexity of identity and the facets of self acceptance. This all has transformed and will continue to inform my work far into the future. They mean more to me than they all understand.

What’s next for you?

I don’t really know or like to stress myself out about it, I think all things come in due time, and I hope to allow the universe to take me where she thinks will serve me and I’ll serve best next.

Check out our premiere of ‘Becoming the Woman You’d Want Me to Be’ in the gallery below and get your own copy here.