Q’LLAGE // MYQUEERIUM
Q’llage is a multi-year, ongoing project.
This second series of collages and workshops, known as Myqueerium, is in its early stages. Myqueerium workshops are held in collaboration with artist and mycologist Eiko Mizushima.
SUSTAINED TRANSFORMATION (working title). 5’x4’ Cut-up magazine and cut-up paintings on acrylic-painted wood.
MYQUEERIUM // WORKSHOPS
Q’LLAGE // ABOUT
Q’llage explores how the strategies that support me and my local queer community to stay true to ourselves are mirrored in the natural world. This project springs from my own coming into queerness, as I’ve found solace and inspiration in observing and writing about nature.
Since 2019, I’ve conducted over one hundred hours of interviews with forty-five LGBTQ2IA+ people in my local community about their “coming in” stories — how they have and continue to come into their truths around gender, sexuality, family, and love. Across the interviews, I listen for strategies that people have used to stay true to their process of self-inquiry and exploration in the midst of social and systemic pressure and violence. I research how those practices and strategies are mirrored in the natural world and talk to people who know a lot more about plants than me. I lead outdoor movement workshops (sometimes in collaboration with other local artists) for participants to explore how each theme lives in their bodies and the nature around them. I intertwine images from the workshops, plant research, and my own reflections to create compositions for large-scale collages.
My collage process reflects the dialectic between the individual and collective. Tangibly, I cut up small pieces of National Geographic magazines (for their rich colors), fabric, and photographs — each with their own story — to form a collective whole. Intangibly, I strive to make art at the nexus of my personal experience and the experiences that people share with me. I strive to honor those I interview while also being my own subject. Rather than telling other people’s stories, I’m paying attention to the impact of their stories upon me.
Q’llage has been funded in part by individual donors and in part by grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
Nell Pierce is a fiscal year 2024 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.