YOUR TRASH, OUR TREASURE // I became myself at the STUD.
2024 | (recycled/ salvaged materials including lasercut cotton fabric, acrylic, buttons, beads, cardboard, aluminum foil, redwood planks, LED rope light)


My piece for the @stud_pin_archives that was on display at @saintjosephsartsfoundation from January—April 2024 as part of a fundraiser for the new STUD, organized by Chloe Miller. 

This piece is an homage to San Francisco and the STUD. The STUD is a microcosm within a subcommunity within San Francisco, historically and contemporarily a place for queer outsider self-expression.


I was born in 1987 so the pinback I was given to create on as a canvas holds special meaning. My poem, “I became myself at the STUD,” is a tiny slice of my vast and varied experiences there, formative & fundamental to who I am as a person.

The words of the poem are exposed when the Lightbox is illuminated, a cheesy and literal nod to the way in which the STUD allowed me to shine from within and inspired me to own my queerness, my sexuality, and my artistic persona as both a multimedia artist and as a dancer. I have inhabited the space in many capacities and feel grateful to be part of the SF queer continuum because of my nights spent at the STUD.

The words, “YOUR TRASH, OUR TREASURE” apply to both San Francisco and the STUD simultaneously; external voices are quick to deem our beloved 49 square miles as a failed state but we know her and love her in spite of/ because of all her flaws. I was inspired by a historic bedazzled STUD sign of yesteryear to glue on all the unwanted bits and baubles I found at @scrapsf and elsewhere.

Big thanks to Chloe Miller and @stoned_fruit for the opportunity! Shoutout to @noisebridgehackerspace for the tools needed to make it happen.