KD: Stickers are interesting because, for one thing, they carry a hint of a commoditization. We put price stickers on things that we buy. The stickers that I use are always Disney princesses or Hello Kitty or mass-produced characters, so the girls are objects. Part of the aesthetic involves putting the stickers on yourself, which I think is really different than someone putting a price tag on your ass. Using too many stickers can introduce a grotesque element: if you have a lot of stickers it starts to look like a skin disease or something. Then there’s something very childish about it that I love too. It’s hard to even express what that sweetness means but I think we all recognize it. Standing there in your underwear, covered in stickers — it renders you sweet and vulnerable and childlike.

AR: That seems to be a big part of the critique of the teen girl Tumblr aesthetic, that the use of materials like glitter, stickers, and sprinkles are infantilizing. How do you respond to that?

KD: What’s interesting to me about that criticism is it doesn’t ever address what’s so wrong with children. We have that side of ourselves that is vulnerable, that is child-like, and I don’t think that’s something we need to beat out of ourselves. There are things about Tumblr and that aesthetic that are disturbing. Things you could liken to child porn, very violent things — those are very part of our culture. That’s how teenagers experience our culture.