DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT ME

"Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" is an embroidered text-based artwork that explores the tensions surrounding gender expression and identity. Stitched onto materials associated with performance and transformation—sequined fabrics, tulle, and wigs—the work recontextualizes a familiar pop-culture song (originally by Culture Club in the 1980s) into a contemplative question.

Embroidery, traditionally linked to domesticity and femininity, becomes a medium of quiet resistance here—each deliberate stitch a testament to the persistence of non-conforming identities. By inscribing the words, "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me”, onto fabrics that evoke fragility, the work invites reflection: Who is truly hurt when gender exists beyond binaries?

The labor-intensive nature of embroidery mirrors the resilience of those who navigate a world often resistant to fluidity. Just as a needle moves through resistant fabric, the work suggests an enduring act of reclamation—one stitch, one gesture, at a time.