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Find Yourself – A Triptych

The words Find and Yourself appear large in the centre of the illustration. Find has indents across the middle that makes it seem as though the letters are flowing into each other in order. Yourself has similar indentations flowing backwards. In the background we see several vaginal and sex toy shapes, further behind we see colourful blobs.
By Suryaa Rajan Brushstrokes Gender and Sexuality Visual Corner November 19, 2024

2023 was a year of reckoning and acceptance that my relationship with intimacy had changed due to abusive experiences. After working in the SRHR space, and going down many Reddit / Instagram rabbit holes, I realised that a lot of women, including myself, have never actually taken a moment to look at ourselves with kindness or explore our own bodies to know what we love. As we grow and experience intimate relationships, pleasure becomes taboo or is only okay as a performance for another person, rather than our right as human beings.

When everything felt like an act at the cost of my happiness, I imagined this illustration and series, to make it okay for myself to take space, to heal from the trauma of past relationships, to take ownership of my pleasure, and to learn to love every bit of myself again.


Your Valentine

Find Yourself

Not Your Valentine

Illustrations by Suryaa Rajan.

Suryaa Rajan / About Author
Suryaa (she/her) is a South Asian illustrator and storyteller, passionate about creating art that is joyful, empathic, inclusive, and informative. She worked in development in the US and India, fundraising for causes addressing access to quality education for underserved communities, mental health resources, SRHR, CSE, drawing attention to gender based violence and human rights violations. Her illustrations are infused with these lived experiences and explore themes such as identity, gender, and sexuality.
More posts by Suryaa Rajan