My hat collection began before I was born. My dads hats from college stabilize the stack of 56. Growing up, knit animal hats provided characters to fall back on, Hat Grayson was silly and different. There was something about being able to perform outwardly in a hat because of this life I got. As I went through my last year of college my childhood collections continued to grow as I moved into larger spaces. My own creations followed similar theatrical themes and performance pieces grew abundant in my portfolio.

Through my installation there are Horses and Jesters; Descriptors of my life somehow, always present in my identity. Horses I grew up with. I spent 10 years riding English in the North West circuit. It was a great learning experience but also threw me into a depressive state. I suffered from imposter syndrome when moving up into competitive divisions and hoarded top awarding ribbons, later used to make a ringleaders jacket. My childhood collection of toy horses wander through the layers of ribbon, belts, and fabric. They are the freedom of performance running wild within me but drowning within the imposter syndrome.

I came to find solace in Jesters Privilege, once again finding love in performing ridiculously to escape from depression. From imposter to performer I learned there is a freedom of no expectations because that means there is no limit to what I could achieve. Two Jester suits lay behind the Dragon, Monty, and the Hoard. Stuffed with tulle and fabric swatches I imagine it to be my older more realized self cradling a younger version of myself.