Queer Topographies (Briar Patch), cotton jacquard weaving made on a computerized loom, 24K gold embroidery thread, handmade glass beads made from glass collected in queer nightlife spaces, 2023.
Queer Topographies (Briar Patch) detail.
Queer Topographies (Briar Patch) detail.
Queer Topographies is composed of a series of jacquard weavings created with a computerized loom, the images in the tapestries are based on photographs taken of floors from queer nightlife spaces.
The form and material process of the works is one that directly engages with the historical function and
complex histories of tapestries as narrative devices and objects of power, with a new interpretation that
intends to celebrate the debris and residual trace of queer experiences. The zoomed-in photography of
floors and debris also depicts what looks like geographic maps, or space exploration imagery, a soft
metaphor to the spaces that queer communities build to exist outside of heteronormative patriarchy.
These sentiments are echoed by the integration of 24k gold embroidery and handmade beads made from
glass bottles collected from queer bars, in an attempt to memorialize, poetically reinterpret, and document the ephemeral bliss of queer existence.
Eagle LA (Constellation), cotton jacquard weaving made on a computerized loom, 24K gold embroidery thread, handmade glass beads made from glass collected in queer nightlife spaces, 2023.
Eagle LA (Constellation) detail.
Queer Topographies (Clandestina), cotton jacquard weaving made on a computerized loom, 24K gold embroidery thread, handmade glass beads made from glass collected in queer nightlife spaces, 2023.
Queer Topographies (Albatros), cotton jacquard weaving made on a computerized loom, 24 K gold embroidery thread, handmade glass beads made from glass collected in queer nightlife spaces, 2023.
A large component of this body of work currently focuses on a series titled Nocturnal Animals, which maps queer nightlife
spaces along the US-Mexico border. The pieces utilize the topographic visual to draw connections
between queer nightlife and desert regions, to speak to the extreme geographic conditions that exist in
regions and the hostile patriarchal environs in our communities.
Creating a poetic parallel between the
nighttime flora and fauna that thrive in these regions and the queer nightlife communities and spaces that
present the possibility to be, exist, and become.
Queer Topographies (Albatros) & Queer Topographies (Clandestina).Queer Topographies (Albatros) detail.
Queer Topographies (Clandestina) detail.