ZHI KAI H. VANDERFORD (MR./HE/HIM)

WHAT ROLE DOES ART PLAY IN YOUR LIFE?

I have obtained an AA and a BA, am working on my paralegal and MBA. I study and work very hard. Art empties my mind to articulate feelings that I have never been able to convey. Creating art is healing and enables me to share, in this case, who I am. As part of the LGBTQ pride famly, I hope I connect with those feeling marginalized. We are not alone and belong here on the planet.

2023 Identity 2 Exhibition

IDENTITY STATEMENT

I do not purport my innocence. I was 19 years old & pregnant when I killed my fiance. In retrospect, I didn’t know the gravity of my actions or much of anything, despite what I may have thought. It’s 2023, I’m 56 this year and have been incarcerated 36 years and counting. I’m a changed person, inside and literally out; as a transmale. Being free to express who I am, as a trans male, helped free me to understand my actions. I have bloomed where I am planted via LBGTQ advocacy. I am a self-pay MBA student and $500 will pay for one class. A special thanks to the Legal Revolution Law Firm, All Square Restaurant, North Hennepin Community College and the MN Department of Corrections for the post-baccalaureate paralegal scholarship.