The desire to reclaim my girlhood and to heal the wounded parts of myself is what led me to the intersection where Albion Rose was born. Like most of the world, during the early days of the pandemic, I spent a great deal of lockdown sitting with my thoughts and reflecting upon the experiences that shaped me. In doing so, fond memories from my girlhood poured over me--most notably a series of beloved vignettes shared with my big sister and our adopted mother.

Painfully, my idealized version of reality was unmasked and later revealed to merely be half-truths and candy-coated fantasies. To guard my childlike heart, I used my imagination to create my own reality and to escape the horrors of my traumatic past. An endless cycle of public deception and private despair. I spent my whole life being swallowed up by my fantasy of lies. It was this epiphany – this devastating truth – that ultimately led me to the conclusion that by living my life as a “fairytale”, I was living my life as a lie. In this moment of reckoning, I was finally ready to peel back the layers of trauma and embrace the reality that my girlhood hadn’t always been graced with rainbows and unicorns. It was time to stand in my truth.

In this very personal fairytale drawn from important moments of my life, you’re invited to a meditation on the duality of fantasy, and the imaginative stories we tell ourselves to live through our pain. Albion Rose is my intimate homage to the fierce bond of sisterhood, and the redemptive power of family.

Warmly,