Being a queer man brought up in the rural south, my worldview was formed by mass media and the more abrasive tendencies of redneck culture. My exposure to the arts of making and storytelling came from wrestling, comic books, games and toys, while my voice developed in direct response to the loud (and often fascistic) political ravings of my extensive extended family. These influences taught me two valuable lessons – to see art in everything, and that bluntness can be an eloquent tool of persuasion – which have become foundational to my artistic practice.

When I develop my work, I start by asking myself who is most directly targeted by a given medium, and how my concepts play off those mediums. Can I communicate to children best through creating toys, to a community through a social experience, or to gallery attendants through AV installation? By recognizing the potential for anything to become an artwork, not only do I broaden the scope of the forms my work can take, but I also broaden the users’ perception of the art objects that actively communicate to them in their everyday lives. The user understands that, for instance, wrestling action figures teach just as much about sexual social norms as toys of my own creation teach about homosexuality, masculinity, and intimacy. Through this understanding, users can become more receptive to the ways I utilize humor, shock, and appropriation to spark discussion about gender, sexuality, and structures of power.