DISCOrd is a new body of work following an eight-year exploration called DISCOurse, where I first aspired to put the Disco back into discourse! That series formally manipulates the glitz and glam aesthetic of early queer disco, reimagining its diverse site as a rehearsal for inclusion. In that era, the veil of repression was lifted inside the disco club to make otherness or queerness attractive and dazzling, if only for a few hours—even for the straight interloper. From this utopic perspective, 70’s Disco heralded progressive change by reveling in its flamboyant, radical aesthetic of shine.

One of the early works of DISCOurse is a large piece called “Circuit Clown, 2015.” Like all my work for the past two decades, “Circuit Clown” is made of unlikely, non-art materials—everyday items, ephemera, or, at the very least, cheap, colorful, shiny craft materials not considered the makings of so-call ‘high art.’ One of “Circuit Clown’s” predominant materials is brightly colored nylon zip ties protruding from the shiny silver mylar pegboard substrate.

Zip ties, or cable ties, have come to be associated with restraint and incarceration—handcuffs. The nightmare image of the January 6, 2021, Capital Insurrection, when one of the traitors carried a bundle of stolen zip tie cuffs into our hallowed Senate Chamber, sent shivers. In this moment of national discord, the new zip tie pieces are my joyous remedy. I recently discovered stainless steel zip ties when purchasing the variously colored nylon ones. These glistening silver industrial versions have become a new and exciting medium too. DISCOrd celebrates a shiny and colorful queer aesthetic, resilient, and refusing to submit. 

Included in this collection are the new ‘Disco Light’ paintings. I have never tired of the spectacular mood-altering moment when direct sunlight enters my studio and explodes off the myriad actual disco balls lying around or inserted into the DISCOurse pieces. In this infinite dome of heaven, a thousand points of light envelop and illuminate my artwork. These spray-painted colorful canvases are compressed physical renderings of that experience.

More than ever, DISCOrd celebrates queer shine’s ability to turn hate and oppression into an imagined future—diverse, optimistic, joyous, and fun.