Making a safe space
At an uncertain time for queer expression, a video chat with Jess T. Dugan about love, seeing and being seen
Less than two weeks after inauguration day, I visited the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota to see Jess T. Dugan: I want you to know my story. I wanted to catch up: Jess (their Substack is
) started their career in Boston twenty years ago, as an undergraduate at MassArt making photographic portraits of queer folks. They have since created an expansive career encompassing photography, video, and more. Their new solo show of drawings, I’m right here with you, is at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis through July 27.I reached out to Jess. We spoke this past week about their practice of love and connection through art, about working in this political climate, about drawing, and more. The full video is below, but here’s a teaser. And if you’re a paid subscriber and prefer reading to watching, the transcript is here.
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