BEYOND the HORIZON

Art has always been a means of escape. But for these THREE ARTISTS, they want to DO MORE than use it as an insular medium. They tell us how they are using their work to carve out space for VITAL CONVERSATIONS not just themselves, but for queer youths, for black and brown artists, and even for the ocean

- HILLARY KANG

Jean Goh

WANTS TO SHOW THAT QUEER RELATIONSHIPS CAN BE HEALTHY

The list of negative tropes about the LGBTQ+ community in pop culture is long: Queer characters in toxic, tumultuous relationships. Queer characters who never get their happy ending, who are unceremoniously killed off, often to advance a heterosexual character's storyline. Queer characters who are promiscuous and hyper-sexualised – a trope especially prevalent for lesbian relationships, which have long been used for the pleasure of a male audience.

It's something that musician Jean Seizure – real name Jean Goh – feels acutely. It was really lonely growing up, because there wasn't much queer representation around me, she says. The few times she did see queer people and relationships portrayed, they were rarely positive. There are so many stories of queer romances being super dramatic or intense, she adds. A lot of queer content is actually quite negative in its portrayal.

Goh wants to buck the trend. In her latest music video, Do You Wanna, Goh showcases several queer couples in various scenes of intimacy: Women cuddle in bed with hot mugs of tea. They paint (fully-clothed) portraits of one another. They even wash the dishes together in a sun-dappled kitchen. Put together, it's a comforting picture of queer domesticity – and more importantly, normalcy.