My work mines the relationship of queerness to systems of structure and ritual practice. Using architectural elements and functional objects as physical surrogates for social structures, binary systems, and normative ideals, I reevaluate and subvert their traditional structures through mx/alignment, re/orientation, and re/claiming. I strive to draw a line between our somatic relationship to spaces and objects and how our orientation within and to them affect perspective, experience, and meaning.

I employ horizontal collaboration with the viewer through sensory experience, interactive work, and pieces that literally gaze back at the viewer. I’m interested in creating a connection with the viewer through visual flagging and semiotic modes of recognition. These methods of communication are deeply rooted in queer lexicon, subtext, and coded language that act both as safeguard and cultural signifier. Important rites of passage and daily rituals in queer life run tandem to those typically associated with Catholicism. In my work I draw attention to those analogous, innately queer practices, including pilgrimage, relic culture, and baptism.

Clay is my primary material, and the wheel my most prized tool. Although rooted in ceramics, my work expands into mixed media. I rarely use glaze or “ceramic” surface finishes. Cold finishing allows me to give a greater specificity to the content of each piece; I am interested in simulacra and façade/masking, but not in trompe l’oeil. By utilizing mixed materials in combination with clay, I have built and continue to expand a material vernacular with particular significance to my work and the themes within it.

About the Artist:

Kirstin Willders (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary artist and teaching-artist. Her studio practice is rooted in ceramics and expands into glass, light, and mixed materials. Kirstin received a BFA in ceramics and a BA in art history from Kent State University in 2012. She went on to earn an MA in art history from Syracuse University’s Florence Graduate Program in Renaissance Art in 2017 and an MFA in ceramic art from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2020. Kirstin has completed residencies at C.R.E.T.A. Rome (Rome, Italy), Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (Houston, TX), the American Museum of Ceramic Art (Pomona, CA), Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts (Edgecomb, ME), and will be a resident at the Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory (Cleveland, OH) in July 2025. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally; Recent shows include Dream Clinic Project Space, ROY G. BIV Gallery,
Curated Storefront, and Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, among others. She is currently based in Columbus, OH where she is a full-time Associated Faculty Lecturer in ceramics at The Ohio State University.

For LGBTQIA+ people in the US, everyday life can be a horror show. We adapt from a young age to the fear of facing harm for simply existing in public spaces, and those fears have grown with the instability and violence of the current regime. Yet, the horror genre is also an important space for queer people to see ourselves and play with conceptions of gender and sex. This show spotlights creators in the LGBTQIA+ spectrum in Columbus, Ohio – with a focus on works that illustrate everyday horrors in comics form. Whether facing fear from bigotry, managing monstrous bodies, or finding joy despite heteronormativity and transphobia, each piece speaks to the visual languages through which we can find belonging, power, and joy amid the horrors.

About the Artists:

J ITZEL (she/they) is a comics and illustrative artist whose work is informed by her Mexican heritage and extensive media backlog, with a range in high fantasy and realism. They curated the anthology group Bonfire Comics (Shonen Trump, Topia, Stratos.) She recently illustrated the graphic novel Labyrinth’s Borne written by Frederick Luis Aldama.
MJ Damsen (they) is a nonbinary printmaker, teacher, part time cartoonist, and full time menace. A childhood spent waking up at 2 AM to watch MonsterQuest and the 5 AM anime block on Adult Swim poisoned their mind and lured them into a life of creative arts, particularly the weird and wacky kind. If they’re not drawing or printing, you can probably find them floating listlessly in a kayak somewhere on the Olentangy.

Victoria Douglas (they/she) is a nonbinary illustrator, comic artist, and game developer. They teach digital illustration at the Columbus College of Art and Design, and have been holed up in an unmarked, underground bunker making comics since 2018.

Tessa Luicart (she) is a cartoonist from southeast Ohio whose comics range from the humorous to the horrific. They aim to share their experiences with others through their stories to make those who read them (and themselves!) feel a little less alone.

Kieve Nox (they/fae/it) paints and makes comics centering a queered contemporary and fantastical subject matter. Their current big project is “Amorous” which uses vampires as an allegory for trans and nuerodivergence in conservative America. They also teach at Columbus College of Art and Design and Columbus State.

Pixel (any) is a queer artist based in Ohio whose work ranges from cutesy to horrific. She draws digitally with vibrant colors but their roots are in traditional media.

Rebecca Richardson (she) is a cartoonist, zine-maker, and educator based in Columbus, Ohio. Her drawings explore solitude, identity, and the small, strange patterns of everyday life. Her work has appeared in Fruitslice, at Prologue Bookshop, and in little free libraries throughout her neighborhood. In 2024, she founded Zine Club Columbus, a community space for zinesters of all experience levels to gather and create.

Nick Stellanova (he) is a comic artist from Ohio. His work centers around gender identity, nature, technology, and queer themes. Nick likes to make comics with whatever medium he can – collage, ink, sculpture, or anything else he can make work!

Jaromir Stoll (they) is a nonbinary and ace comic and zine creator who makes work on the ineffable in life, from memoir to horror, fantasy, and nature. They are Associate Professor & Head of Science, Social Science, & Math at Columbus College of Art & Design.

FB Strider (he) was born and raised in Maricao, Borikén where he read vampire novels and doodled comics until he moved for art school. He has a black cat named Colette.

A transplant from Cleveland, Kai Webb (he) makes art that uplifts the good things in life—like nature and a warm laugh—and addresses heavy people problems such as child abuse and mental health. His art comes from an ancestral punch in the gut hoping to add depth to the mundane.