This visual chapter is a movement between questions and answers, concealment and revelation. It begins with a question: Ayeka, the Hebrew word meaning, “Where are you?” Where are you in the process of becoming? This question has echoed across the chambers of hearts, sometimes unanswered and unasked.
And then the answer: Hineini. “Here I am.”
This story is a map of that encounter between Ayeka and Hineini, at the nexus of past and present selves, body and spirit, trauma and healing. It is about sitting across from another human; therapist, client, friend, and feeling nervous systems settle into something new.
Credit for some of the text in this comic is attributed to Julian K. Jarboe and their manifesto The Android That Designed Itself in their short story collection, “Everyone On the Moon is Essential Personnel.”
Additional credit to the text in this comic is attributed to adaptations of Thomas Zimmerman’s words from his podcast episode, The Relevance of “Parts Work” to EMDR Therapy on The EMDR Podcast. All accredited text is in bold italic font.
Carmine (they/them) is a queer trans nonbinary multimedia artist and Expressive arts therapist living on Wabanaki land, in what is now called Maine. Being an artist and a therapist are constellations of inquiry. I am endlessly fascinated by themes of the body, time, and space, and enjoy using comics and illustrations to wander through memory and the multiverse of the self. This comic is dedicated to every queer, nonbinary, and trans person igniting a quiet revolution in the process of becoming..
