about this piece
It's the winter of 1940. You've been drafted to fight in World War II, leaving behind the man you love, a relationship that must remain hidden from the world. Forty-three days have passed, and you're no less afraid than the day you departed. Unable to sleep, you ache for the familiarity of his touch, so you write him a letter and seal it inside a mason jar. The next day, you slip away from your barracks and wander the shoreline of an unfamiliar beach somewhere in Europe. In a moment of quiet desperation, you throw the bottle into the ocean, hoping against all odds that it might somehow find its way home.
For many LGBTQ+ people during the 1940s, love often existed in secrecy. Same-sex relationships were criminalized, and discovery could carry devastating personal, legal, and professional consequences. For those serving in the military, even private expressions of affection could become a source of fear, forcing many to conceal not only their identities but also the people they loved.
Soft Lips is an immersive installation that invites viewers to piece together a fictional narrative through sound, handwritten letters, and tactile objects. By asking participants to handle and uncover these fragments themselves, the work transforms quiet acts of intimacy into an act of discovery, exploring how love persists even when it must remain hidden beneath silence, distance, and uncertainty.