How stickers tell the stories of queer identities 

MANILA, Philippines – Celebrating queer identity can come in different mediums, one of which is the visual arts. 

Art is often a two-way street for LGBTQ+ creatives. It’s a way for them to express their own lived experiences as queer individuals, and it also doubles as an avenue for their audiences to find solace in knowing that there are others who have gone through the same thing. 

Art, then, becomes an intimate language shared between two souls. 

Take Gen Zs for example. Many pop culture moments have been forever immortalized through stickers, and have even birthed stereotypes like the “baklang may stickers sa laptop o tumbler (gay person with stickers on their laptop or tumbler). 

It not only shows who they are, but their ideals, beliefs, and unique interests. For queer artists Nica Yosoya and BYUL*, their stickers signify pride and identity. 

What makes an artist? 

Art had been a staple in both Yosoya and Byul’s childhoods. To them, it was cultivated at home, whether it was through taking drawing classes with siblings or scribbling on walls.

What started as childhood hobbies eventually led Yosoya and BYUL to become full-fledged artists in their adulthood as they now find themselves taking artwork commissions. Both have shared that they would create posters and prints, as well as stickers and graphics for various clients and conventions. Yosoya even shared how she started designing tattoos for friends. 

“My friends told me, you should start selling stickers because there are a lot of people who will buy [them],” said BYUL, who is currently pursuing Fine Arts in Cebu city. 

The encouragement she received from her peers helped push her into sticker selling, and eventually putting her artworks up for sale, too.

Their distinct artistic voices are empowered with the help of their peers. Navigating craft and identity feels lighter in a space where you feel free.

Of meanings and mediums

Every artist has their own artistic identity, an ability to convey inner thoughts in a visual scale. 

BYUL’s art style is a mix of collages, surrealism, and found items. In her work, she shares her interests and personal experiences, such as her affinity for the shoegaze genre and Mitski. Yet most interestingly, BYUL’s art reflects her Catholic upbringing.

Living in a conservative household, being queer wasn’t necessarily accepted. Even then, it’s something that has influenced BYUL’s “goodness and personal identity.”

Catholicism is also intrinsically tied to queer experiences in the Philippines for her, leading her to frequently reference such iconography.

Most notably, she shares how her art is reflective of her story as a queer woman who has not come out yet. Her Mitski–inspired stickers reflect this, as “queer-coded” stickers become a quiet proclamation of her identity.

Yosoya also started selling stickers after much encouragement from her friends. Her work is inspired by the retro movement, their boldness and bright colors screaming pride and confidence. She shares how one of her inspirations is the art style during the 1960’s — a time where activism for LGBTQ+ communities was gradually becoming more visible.

Art in the ‘60s was dominated by pop art, marked by its bold colors and patterns. It was queer artists like Keith Haring who had taken center stage in this era, and naturally, Yosoya had grown to take inspiration from him. 

Now, Yosoya merges modern pop culture references and contemporary media with this distinctive art style.

“The more that I create art the more that I should research about it, not just create in an instant. Maybe I would offend some community that doesn’t really agree with that artistic choice,” she said. She further explained how she felt that her choice of words might unknowingly be slurs or push harmful stereotypes.

As a sapphic woman, Yosoya wants her work to be reflective of love, for the self and for the other. This is why you can often see the love she shares with her girlfriend in the art she makes.

More than anything, though, Yosoya wants people to feel inspired and acknowledged, especially in terms of sexuality.  

Sacred spaces

The message of stickers is not only limited to visual attributes. Both queer artists find themselves in dialogues with other creatives or customers about art and identity. These dialogues transcend being mere conversations, but slowly form into communities. 

“Yung intentions ko (my intentions) of being [an artist] not just like the invitation to talk about or to bond, but it is like an act of community,” BYUL shared. 

When she sees people using her art, be it on the back of their laptops or tumblers, she feels like these strangers have become an extension of herself.

“Iba rin talaga, iba din yung feeling na ginagamit yung work mo as a mark of their identity or their property, usually their property. Pero, of course, parang it becomes like an extension. Na-extend ka na. So, you are both bonded,” she added.

(It is different, it feels different that your work is being used to mark their identity or their property, usually their property. But, of course, it becomes like an extension. Your self is also extended. So, you are both bonded).

“Mga conversations naman sa mga customers (These conversations with customers), it goes beyond the sale. They become moments of understanding,” Yosoya said. 

Yosoya feels grounded in her community of artists during sticker conventions and other events. She also believes that through such spaces, queerness is also being acknowledged through her stickers. 

While both artists lamented that art is not as freely expressed in their hometowns compared to places like Metro Manila and Cebu, Yosoya still acknowledged that more artists are gradually emerging at the forefront of the local art scene to express their own narratives in their own distinctive voices in her home base.

Yosoya believes that the impact these stickers make help build visibility and confidence for different identities. “Especially to our trans sisters,” she said. For her, the impact is recognized when different people feel seen and confident because of the stickers. 

“They really appreciate mga (the) artworks na gina make ko (I make) for them because they feel more seen so it [feels] more personal, they feel confident about themselves and they feel as if they’re not alone in their experiences,” she further explained. 

BYUL also believes that the impact of these stickers have more weight to them when it’s not just a simple flag, but rather, something subversive that references queer identities and its many forms. 

Both artists also believe that stickers have the ability to empower. 

“I really think na yung (that the) environment of queer communities [are empowered] because the pins or patches back in the day, for example, sa (in) DIY or punk subcultures, they wear or put on themselves or on their property to signify their alliance or their association with these certain subcultures or mindsets,” said BYUL.

These stickers become marks of identity for her, unapologetically wearing her personality on her sleeve (and belongings) for the whole world to see. 

“It’s still like a powerful move…to have your identity on your [property], to show yourself, and to show up and to express yourself through stickers…it’s like a secret code,” she explained. 

For Yosoya, empowerment also comes in the form of recognition about these different personhoods. Stickers, for her, can make them feel safer in their environments as it acts as a representation, acceptance, and hopefully, less struggle for queer individuals.

The fight for queerness and safer spaces is far from over. Through the use of stickers — and art as an extension, there can be more avenues to share queer narratives. These markers of identity, whether it’s obvious or subtle, act as the much-needed push for diversity and inclusivity. – Rappler.com

*BYUL is not the artist’s real name.

Mikay Tormon is a Rappler intern studying Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a Minor in Sociology at the Ateneo de Manila University.