The Cassandra Transcripts
The Cassandra Transcripts were started in fall of 2018 as part of my undergraduate art thesis. They were part of a larger project by the name of “What She Swallowed” about the intersection between gender and mental illness— specifically in this case about the intersection of femmeness and mental illness. While I had ideas about possible intersections between those identities, mine is only one voice and one set of opinions. I set out to interview other people about their experiences with these identities. Some of them currently identify as femme, some of them were socialized as such, and some considered femme-ness to be part of, though not all of their gender identity.
The project was called The Cassandra Transcripts after the greek myth of Cassandra. The god Apollo attempted to seduce her and gave her the gift of prophecy to woo her. When still she rejected him, he spat into her mouth, cursing her. Though she retained the gift of prophecy and spoke the truth, no one would believe a word she said.
I worked with each person I interviewed to create a transcript of their interview that they were comfortable with. From there, I designed a portrait, based on the content of our interview. Each person was remarkable in the amount of strength and vulnerability they showed in telling their story. This project is an ongoing process. While many of the interviews have been transcribed, there are many still remaining.
The interview transcripts are accessible below. If you have questions or want to be involved in this process, please reach out here.
