Native of Louisiana, disabled USAF Veteran, UL Lafayette Graduate Student, Medical Lab Scientist, multi-dimensional artist, inventor, and entrepreneur, Jeremy LaBorde has begun constructing a collective wearable art project of epic proportions. What was initially intended to be a form of art therapy for the local Veteran community, Wearing Myself Art began in April 2019 in Lafayette, LA, after LaBorde hosted a small event where Veterans suffering from depression and their families were provided with blank shirts donated by Goodwill in which to decorate with "raw emotion". The resulting effect was powerful. Everyone, including homeless Veterans, left with a T-shirt they designed with the assistance of LaBorde, who only told his story while using a computer to stencil and cut out vinyl shapes identified by each guest. With the vinyl heat-pressed, other fabric paint media is applied to detail the final piece of art. Now, the project has changed to an international pay-it-forward chain for anyone wanting to collaborate and make a shirt, and so far ANYTHING ELSE artistic for someone in a mental crisis. "Art, music, writing poetry, and stuff like that has always been my outlet when my life got stressful. Apparently there is a very dark place beyond 'very stressful' that can sometimes present itself acutely while I'm juggling obstacles and it won't allow me to be interested in anything I love doing.So after going there a few times and realizing that I just wanted to destroy something and sort of show it off to the world...that's exactly what I did when I designed my first shirt. Now, it's graphic in nature, yes, but...it saved my life. Truly. If its saying anything, I've needed hours of art therapy every day for a few years now. I used to get tattoos, but they're expensive and permanent and usually done at a point of negativity, so they tend to be somewhat negative. A t-shirt design produces the same effect. You can illustrate emotion which tells someone today might not be the day to speak to you, or whatever feeling you want to convey. It's up to you. You can wear your 'art' on your sleeve. And when you wear it out in public, you're displaying your art work. If the group of us all wear a shirt we designed to the pub, we've essentially transformed that location into an art gallery. And that's where the name came from: because I'm wearing the artwork and also I AM the artwork." -Jeremy LaBorde