"Awakening" is a tridimensional mixed media painting which explores gender and selfrepresentation through the inspiration of music videos. The artist not only renders hirself as a woman but also includes the colours of the transgender flag in the work to symbolize hir gender identity. Further symbolism found in this piece includes the flowers and the female figure coming out from the darkness. The darkness represents the violence the trans community faces; we see the figure is emerging and looking ahead, but still affected by it. Another aspect that the artist explores in this piece is the flora. The piece celebrates Mexican and Canadian culture through the representation of floral emblems and based on the traditional Mexican tin Art. The vanilla flower represents Mexico and the trillium represents Canada. The flowers, along with the figure’s serene expression, also represent that self-acceptance and self-love will triumph against adversity.