Garden People (Edition of 27), Soft Ground Zinc Etching on Zerkall Paper, 2021

I drew the image straight onto the plate as a meditation on self-fabulation. A fairly quick improvisational process, I let the first layer of the image get bit very deeply in the acid. I thought not only that this could have interesting consequences on said image (see ghost print below) but it could also eat away at the edges of the plate for a more organic shape. I’m especially pleased by how the ghost prints, comprising about half the edition, came out, as the ink remained only on the craggy edges of the line to produce a delicate sort of double-lined effect, each print unique. To make sure the original version of the prints also varied from each other, I left visible hand-wiping on the figures.

I’m delighted by the LGBTQ community’s capacity for creation— we are, together, inventing ourselves all the time, and refashioning our relationship to the world around us. Though that tendency often leads to more and more granular categories or labels, I find myself most compelled by ambiguities, the idea for example that one’s gender and sexuality can blend together and produce interesting and verdant selves in constant evolution.