In spring 2021, the owners of The Compound Gallery—a gallery and artists’ studio in Oakland, CA from which I had rented private workspace between 2018-2020—invited me to prepare work for their space based on prototypes I’d been exploring for articulated wooden toys. For my breakout solo exhibition, I named it Playhouse, based on the kids show “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” which ran from 1986-1990. The exhibition explored how trans identity—due to censorship and lack of representation in public life—is frequently created from a composite of heavily-coded but rarely explicitly-named trans/queer characters in pop culture. I leaned heavily into the pieces as puppets to drive home that that art, images, narratives, and characters are not just ideas but influences that affect us physically, spiritually, and emotionally and that we use play to develop and explore our identities.

Over the course of four months, I spent every waking hour using scrap paper, plywood, hardware, string, and acrylic paint to design, fabricate, paint, and assemble 50 puppets to fill the gallery. Each piece represented a different character—whether real or fictional—that I saw in my childhood and teenage years who helped form my sense of self, which eventually came to a boil in my 30s when I finally came out as a queer trans man.

In addition to the pieces on the wall, I requested that the gallery allot me floor space to sell “merch”—my take on a museum’s gift shop. A big part of my creative process is addressing the issue of wealth disparity in the arts and how the inherently high prices of artwork alienate audiences from lower income households. Taking inspiration from merch tables at punk shows, I created art objects—stickers, pins, prints, and barf bags—at a low cost to allow people to become art collectors at a price point of $2-$20 rather than $125-$3k+.

I also created an interactive photo-op based on the cut-outs seen at county fairs and tourist attractions. I made a large wooden figure of myself (even wearing the same outfit as me at the show opening) with a notch cut out for someone to place their head in and pose. The words “Be the Queer Tranny you crave to see!” were painted as a backdrop. This was included to usher in a new era for myself and the people in attendance—to leave covert coding behind and invite (or challenge) attendees to imagine a trans character (and a real one at that) as a desirable influence and role model.

Artwork photographed by Lena Verderano Reynoso, all others by Lonesome Bill Walker