who has the right to be happy? | Issue 004 | Grace Galore Magazine

Photo taken by Nod’Keya’ (@afilmfiend)

In this issue: Rebecca McLaren “just peachy”

Syed Hashim “the first heartbreak” Kara Morgan ”a love letter to myself” Bella campos “the pain we bear”, “/re/action”

Bex Saunders self portrait Becca Serena “wonder in bloom”, “panic at disney”

Nora Griffith illustration Erin Davis “Cities in the Sky”

Rebekah Villacorta collage Nod’Keya’ “are you happy?”, “where is my peace”,

Credits

Photo taken by Nod’Keya’ (@afilmfiend)

(c0ver art/ “who has the right to be happy” designed and created by Hannah Priscilla Bean - @hannahpriscillabean)

handmade collage with magazine scraps, marker, and crayon

http://mclarenrebecca.wixsite.com/portfolio

“just peachy”

Rebecca McLaren, 21, Toronto, ON @babygotbecs

Rebecca is a spirited storyteller with a passion for entertainment, writing, and social activism.

Rebecca completed two years of Media Studies at Western University and graduated with an HBA from Ivey this spring. Her work ranges from abstract, acrylic paintings, to handmade collages, to poetry and creative writing, and her works are often inspired by her experiences with mental illness. In her free time, Rebecca can be found managing and curating her independent online magazine: Polemical Zine, watching movies, or eating way too many veggie quesadillas.

background image by Erin Davis (@erindmedia)

Everything was going perfect, the cold winds refreshing my soul with a romantic song running in my phone as I increase its volume with a sip of my coffee being taken; sitting in the window watching the beautiful black sky full of stars and a moon making the night fully luminous.

But, it has always been the dark nights for me since the day you left me alone wandering.

Cherishing the times and moments spent with you were the only things that fed my soul after you broke me.

I still remember how beautiful those days were. We never fought, nor argue over the silly things. The love between us which bought us together was the only thing which apart us. Our late mid-night talks until the dawn where they were only us sharing our most better days to the difficult times we faced in our lives. Having a strong bond of trust, love, and understanding were the best things between us. I still couldn’t digest the truth that parted us

background image by Erin Davis (@erindmedia)

I still wonder how we used to stick with each other in every difficult circumstances that get raised. Just one thing that led both of ‘Us’ into you and me was your loved one. I had never ever thought of snatching your loved one from you, all I was trying was to know the real him. I somewhere felt that he might not be an ideal one for you.

But, a storm already began in my heart when you choose him over me. I always prayed and still hope the best for you. The only thing I am suffering with, is regret. I should have accept the one you love but who knew this heart would be going to be this much broken.

I never knew the meaning of heartbreak until I went through It. I had never realized that the heartache of friendship hurts even more than in any kind of relationship. I miss you my friend, my better half, my everything. The love we had between us will always be with me the whole life. Each passing night I wish you to get back in my life, spent each moment fully and share the many more years of friendship together

self portrait taken by Kara Morgan

self portrait taken by Kara Morgan

Bella Campos (@abstractrea1ist)

www.behance.net/abstractrea1ist

For this issue's prompt, 'who has the right to be happy?' I took it in the direction of addressing marginalized groups. Everyone deserves an equal opportunity at happiness, but it's so much harder for communities with prejudice against them to be happy, because they are constantly facing discrimination, threats and intimidation. I chose the bright colors, as well as the collage feel to bring attention to this piece, because even with the rising rate of acceptance, there are still too many trying to sweep our struggles under the rug.

www.behance.net/abstractrea1ist

www.behance.net/abstractrea1ist

/re/ action I wake up – cheek pressed softly against the hard wood floor.

I lift up – the dried drool pulling at my face.

It’s holding me down.

Blurry vision.

Irises wading in tears as I start to see light peering in through the rose-colored curtains.

There’s nothing on the tv screen, but that doesn’t stop the pounding sound of static from resonating.

A small pool of saliva fills a crack in the carpet.

There’s clothes piled to the ceiling all around.

Chewed up candy wrappers and expired drink bottles fill the gaps.

Where’d my bed go?

Bella Campos (@abstractrea1ist)

www.behance.net/abstractrea1ist

What happened last night?

I can hear the fan propelling musty air about the room, the same fan which once placed strategically to help tire out the wafting smell of dirty laundry and body odor.

It’s sucked into a pile of nothing now.

In the sliver of the reflection left in between dried out makeup products and long crusted over paint containers lies a sunken, shriveled, mascara stained face, And the shirt I’m wearing is more condiment than cloth.

Where did I go?

Who am I? Don’t I deserve to be happy?

Distancing friends with every struggling thought and weary breath.

I sit alone – Can’t even face myself anymore.

Bex Saunders – Self Portrait (@bexsaundersphotography)

Artist: Bex Saunders (@bexsaundersphotography) Bex Saunders is a multi award winning photographer from the South of England. She specializes in conceptual work, with an emphasis on self portraits. She has had success in 67 competitions/awards. This includes: The Times' Young Photographer of The Year, The Common Wealth Photographer of The Year and the ZSL Photographer of The Year Twice. She has also been internationally published.

I want others to feel my pain. And my strength. The visionary depth that stems from an abyss that few have the courage to explore. Art is a way to survive and to anchor yourself within your deepest realms, yet it gives you healthier roots. The way I aim to express myself through visual means is touching, perturbing, exhaustive, emotional and raw. As if I was born to embody a wound that existed long before. I am inspired by the words of Arthur Tress: “So much of today’s photography… fails to touch upon the hidden life of the imagination and fantasy which is hungry for stimulation. The documentary photographer supplies us with facts or drowns us in humanity, while the pictorialist, avant-garde, or conservative, pleases us with mere aesthetically correct compositions—but where are the photographs we can pray to, that will make us well again, or scare the hell out of us?”

I see myself as one of those photographers that reveal that which is concealed, not only recording what they see around, so capable of scaring and perhaps tormenting, of pushing us into consciousness.

Becca Serena: “Wonder in Bloom”

Becca Serena is a British-Canadian, multidisciplinary experimental artist based in Hamilton, Ontario. After completing her BA in Media, Information and Technoculture with a minor in Creative Writing from Western University, she founded Cold Strawberries Collective with the intention of productively collaborating with other passionate, like-minded young women and queer folk. Her work plays in and queers the spaces between binaries: of truth and fiction, of health and illness, of nature and technology. She can be found on Instagram at @coldstrawberries and @beccaeserena, on Twitter at @becca_e_serena, and on Facebook at Becca Serena.

Both "Panic at Disney" and "Wonder in Bloom" are medium format film photos, taken on a Holga at Disney World in Florida. They use double exposure to create juxtaposition, distortion, and movement. "Wonder in Bloom" blurs magenta flowers across a smiling Alice from Alice In Wonderland. Her face is distorted by the flowers, revealing only her smile. "Panic at Disney," on the other hand, portrays the firework show across a dark sky with silhouetted palm trees. The photo was taken from the middle of such a packed and claustrophobic crowd that it triggered a panic attack; the overlay is a swollen selfportrait taken approximately forty-five minutes later while in the hotel bathroom. The pieces ultimately question destructive beauty in capitalist spaces.

Becca Serena: “panic at Disney”

Nora Griffith (@nora.grif.art)

Nora Griffith (@nora.grif.art)

Cities In The Sky

By Erin Davis

“

I a m E r i n D a v i s , a w r i t e r, a r t i s t a n d p h o t o g r a p h e r based out of Atlanta. My piece is called Cities in the S k y, a n d i t i s b a s e d a r o u n d t h e i d e a o f f i n d i n g p e a c e in the environment around you and being open finding h o m e i n a n y p l a c e y o u f e e l p a s s i o n a t e f o r. T h i s particularly resonates with me because I moved across the a country to a completely new environment the summer before my freshman year of high school and it was a 4 year journey of adapting to a new culture, environment, and peer group. It was a period that I had to deal with a lot of unhappiness, listlessness and restlessness, emotions that are reflective of feeling lost and out of place; much of the time I felt like I wouldn’t ever belong anywhere. It was an experience that made me realize that what makes home for a person is the memories and emotions we attach to a place, the experiences we have there, and the way we see it in our minds eye.

T h i s i s h o w I e n v i s i o n m y c i t y, w h i c h I h a v e b e e n a b l e to make a home. It took years for my perspective to shift and change, and for me to find love in a situation I didn’t choose, but now I’m grateful to live in a place that is full of past experiences and memories.

”

bw collage by Rebekah Villacorta (@sidgarfunkel)

bw collage by Rebekah Villacorta (@sidgarfunkel)

Nod’Keya’ @afilmfiend

Nod’Keya’ @afilmfiend

ISSUE 004

SPRING 2019

Grace Galore Magazine is a multifaceted digital magazine for creative artists by a creative artists. Through themes and open submissions, the goal is to make space where space is not preferred through our own voices and work.

Keep up with Grace Galore Mag: Website: gracegaloremagazine.com Instagram: @gracegaloremag Twitter: @gracegaloremag Special thanks to the amazing artists behind the submissions: Rebecca McLaren @babygotbecs Syed Hashim Kara Morgan @krmrgn Bella Campos @abstractrea1ist Bex Saunders @bexsaundersphotography Becca Serena @beccaserena/@coldstrawberries Nora Griffith @nora.grif.art Erin Davis @erindmedia Rebekah Villacorta @sidgarfunkel Hannah Priscilla Bean @hannahpriscillabean Nod’Keya’ @afilmfiend