Statement:

My work centers around my cultural and queer identity. Growing up with two different cultural backgrounds and as a queer kid was tough, especially in the conservative white suburbs. The work I make represents my messy identity as someone who is disconnected from their cultures but still feels some sense of home in them. My name Mutt is something my dad would call me and my siblings, which is a perfect representation of who I am. My work is also messy and drawn on crumpled paper and thick, bumpy canvases. My charcoal lines are practically carved into the paper, while my oil pastels grab onto every piece of dust that it can. My studio is my cramped room. My charcoal drawings are stuffed in a cheap plastic portfolio with tiny holes in the corner, while my paintings are practically stacked on top of each other in a corner of my room. My work is the embodiment of this is who I am and this is what I can offer.

Biography:

Mutt was evicted from their mom’s womb in May of 2005. They currently live in the suburbs of Chicago. They started to take art ‘seriously’ in their senior year of high school, where they would spend most of their time taking out art books at their local library. Currently, they attend Harper College while pursuing their associate’s degree in fine arts. At Harper College, they received the Mary Applegate Endowed Art scholarship twice, in the fall of 2023 and 2024. They also work at their college’s ceramics studio, where they make clay and glazes. Mutt cannot pick a favorite medium, as they can use anything they can get their hands on. However, the main mediums they use are: oil pastels, charcoal, clay, oil paint, magazine cutouts, graphite, and soft pastels.