Art and Self-Narration: Struggle and Resistance in Kia LaBeija’s Self-Portrait “Eleven”

Abstract

The article examines Kia LaBeija’s self-narration in her self-portrait “eleven,” which is structured by her experiences as an HIV-positive and queer woman of color living in New York. The self-portrait is analyzed through the lenses of gender, race, sexuality, and health, in order to highlight how her art disrupts the political field and contributes to creating an archive of silenced female experiences. I focus on “negative” emotions, such as loneliness and fear, as forces resisting the normative structures of heteronormative power. Through LaBeija’s work, I argue that self-narrative is not only a structural component of subjectification but also a testament to existence, offering insight into how non-privileged subjects experience urban spaces.