Events

Queericana is a series of acrylic paintings capturing the unique and quotidian sights of rural Minnesota.

 As an artist based in rural Otter Tail County, living on twenty acres with my wife, goats and chickens, I spend a lot of time driving over 15 miles to the closest town in any direction. As I log a lot of hours on the road, I am constantly engaging in a process of deeply looking at the world around me. My curiosity is often piqued by the unique choices my neighbors make while interacting with the natural environment of rural Minnesota. 

While what I notice in rural places — small towns, on the end of others’ property or on the side of county highways — are not inherently queer in the ways that term has been firmly associated with sexuality, they are queer in the sense of queer theory that simply reflects that which is non-normative. Rural living comes with a depth of freedom, there are no HOA rules or as many laws enacted (enforced?) for junk piles amassing in yards. The increased space to allow for various stages of decor or decay in the rural countryside provides more opportunity for the strange displays reflected in my paintings. Additionally, without urban infrastructure for trash removal rural residents can become creative in repurposing that which is difficult to discard. 

As an out queer person living in rural Minnesota this series explores moments of wonder, awe, and curiosity as I go about my country life. The small-scale paintings serve as my way to feel kinship in a space where I don’t always feel safe, and allow me to reckon with the natural and manufactured environments in which I am currently embedded. In painting these weird, everyday scenes in vivid acrylic, latex and spray paint I do so not to make fun of, but rather join in on the camp and kitsch of rural Minnesota life for the possibility of forging what Muñoz notes as queer utopic possibility. Where the non-normative exists, the Midwestern mirage of the countryside through my eyes may just be big enough for all of us.