What Did You Do This Weekend?

What Did You Do This Weekend?

2025 

Acrylic on Canvas 

Exhibited: Art of Being: Visible (2025)

What Did You Do This Weekend?' An innocent question. A common courtesy. But for me, as a queer educator in South Carolina, this simple query carried the weight of a world. In a state battling record book bans, merely answering honestly about my life—'I went to dinner with my wife'—meant navigating a terrifying tightrope. This piece captures that visceral moment: the split-second terror of exposing my authentic self, the anxiety of potentially introducing a child to a truth that, while fundamental to who I am, is deemed 'controversial' by powerful forces. It’s a raw exploration of the fear of professional consequence, of judgment, and of being seen as a threat simply for existing. Yet, in that fear, a fierce choice was made. This art piece is a testament to radical honesty, radical visibility, and radical resilience—the quiet power of choosing yourself, even when the world makes it feel like an act of defiance.

Note: Priced at $10,000, this work represents the culmination of a decade of silence and the immense personal and professional cost of choosing visibility in the American South. It is my 'Genesis' piece—the first act of a life lived to the Max