EXHIBITIONS
ALL THAT AND A BAG OF KITSCH
SEPTEMBER 12 - 24, 2022
STEVENS GALLERY, WHITMAN COLLEGE
You may be wondering, why would I call my artwork kitschy? Isn’t kitsch something I’m supposed to stay away from as an artist? Kitsch implies poor taste and ironic appreciation, which are not words an artist should want their work to be associated with. As a queer person and a drag performer, kitsch and camp are things that are to be embraced and valued in our work and culture. I want to blend these two realms, and share my perspective on why kitsch belongs in abstract art, and why abstraction belongs in a queer context. Being queer is a work of art in and of itself. As queer people, we transform our bodies to fit the way we see ourselves from the inside out. We are given raw material–our bodies, assigned to certain roles of gender and sexuality–and break out of those norms to create new ways of being, loving, existing, and thriving. The mediums we use can range from clothing, to hair, to makeup, to ink and surgery. The beauty of being queer is that you can take these expected, perhaps “campy” ideas of gender norms, and completely turn it around to mean something completely different. I view abstract art’s openness to interpretation in a similar way that I view gender presentation. In my abstract work, I often take the “rules” of art, and use them as tools to create something completely unexpected and new. I use glitter as a medium in my work, which is often associated with kid’s crafts, not fine art. In my early exploration of drag, I began to fall in love with glitter in its many forms, textures and colors. I began to use it in my paintings to blend the realms of “campy” queerness and “serious” fine art. And if it’s kitsch, so be it.
PIECE OF CAKE
SENIOR THESIS EXHIBITION
APRIL 22 - MAY 22, 2022
SHEEHAN GALLERY, WHITMAN COLLEGE
What drag can do for a community? In my work, I look at queerness as an art form that can be performed through the medium of drag. I see drag as a medium that creates a community space for legitimate artistic expression, empowerment, and belonging. Drag is so much more than putting on a pretty dress and lip syncing. The essence of drag is getting on the stage and performing by being yourself. When you are performing a gender that society expects of you, you lose a lot of yourself, but when you have the freedom to gender bend, there are no societal rules telling you how to act, dress or talk, and you can be your true, honest self.
On April 2, 2022, my collaborators and I presented Dragtastica, a work that brought drag back to a rural community that hadn’t seen a safe queer space in nearly 5 years. The response was overwhelming—we estimate nearly 300 people were in attendance, and the energy in the room was electric.
Drag can be a space where everyone can be exactly who they want to be without any judgment or boundaries. In mainstream culture, audiences typically only experience drag in spaces like gay bars or on reality television shows like RuPaul’s drag race. While those are important spaces for the larger queer community, it excludes many members of the community such as younger audiences, those who disidentify with commercialized drag, and those who fall outside the drag binaries of kings and queens. I wanted to encompass drag in a space that was larger than the Whitman community, because drag shouldn’t be limited to a small bubble. Dragtastica created a space where anyone regardless of age, gender, sexuality, race, or ability could participate as a drag performer. It also created a supportive space for young artists to perform drag for the very first time.
Drag is one of the few art forms that is specifically for and by the LGBTQ+ community, and as such is rarely legitimized in the contemporary art world. By framing drag as artwork within the academic context of my thesis, I am claiming that drag is a legitimate art form in its own right. Drag is a crucial artistic medium in contemporary art and all drag artists should be seen as contemporary artists.
