Ciara LeRoy is a Calligrapher & illustrator from Lexington, Kentucky. She is a creative confidant that uses her skill to relay the beauty behind things that are seemingly mediocre.

BEING SHE x Ciara. Written by Ciara- @prettystrangedesign

“You’re such a girl.”

I first remember this phrase being weaponized among little boys and girls when I was younger. Now I hear it in homes among families; on fields among athletes; in break rooms among co-workers; across a candlelit table among lovers.

“You’re such a girl.”

As a hand-typographer, I spend a lot of time thinking about words. What they mean. How they look. How they feel.

For this piece, I drew “SHE” so I could start a dialogue within myself about what that word meant, through a visual practice.

To me, “being she” is about choices. She is supposed to choose between being feminine or being “taken seriously.” She is supposed to choose between being a mom or being in an office. She is supposed to choose between speaking her mind or submitting to her partner. She is supposed to choose between tears or a “thick skin.”

And if she makes the “wrong” choices?

“You’re such a girl.”

This piece is my way of saying that as a woman, I occupy a lot of spaces simultaneously and harmoniously. I am feminine yet serious. I fight and I comfort. I am bold yet quiet. I fear and I am brave. I cry yet I am joyful. I am she. I’m such a girl.

No apologies.