Sometimes I just want to draw my friends
You're reading GET IT TOGETHER, a weekly newsletter about punk/indie/pop music and visual art from a queer-feminist perspective, exploring things that are adjacent to my own creative practice.
This is a free post, but you can support my work for $5/month by becoming a newsletter supporter or sharing this with a friend. Thanks for reading.
October is coming up fast and that means I have to keep my promise to myself and participate in the Hwy 62 Open Studio Art Tours. When I moved out to the desert last year I was too late to sign up but I wanted to make sure I could participate in the desert-wide event this year. I'll be opening up my garage studio for the first two weekends (October 4+5 and 11+12).
While I was up in Portland, I spent time photographing friends, and some of my newest work is growing out of those sessions. I find a lot of joy in documenting the people I care about, especially queer folks in their domestic space specifically. It's the one thread in my work I always go back to.
What draws me to these scenes is how we create domestic spaces that are genuinely safe for us. The physical, psychological, and social construction of home as a safer spaces in the face of global resistance to queer and trans bodies.
These spaces are comforting in a way that feels important to document, even when it's not some wildly weird scene or always pushing an aesthetic boundary. Sometimes the most radical thing is just existing peacefully in your own space.
I've been working on more casual portraits alongside still life drawings because I want to capture that whole feeling of home. Sometimes it's the stereotypical stuff like tarot cards and the excessive plant collections, but it's also the more directly personal things like boots kicked off by the door, jewelry, sexy toys or other paraphernalia that marks a space as distinctly queer.
The way we live together too, whether that's separate bedrooms, chosen family arrangements, or sharing space with community beyond just romantic nesting partners.
At the end of the day, sometimes I just want to draw my friends because I think they're wonderful and beautiful, and I love spending time capturing that. I hope it comes through in the work.
If you're interested in similar artwork, may I suggest ye olde standby's:
If you're in the area in October, I hope you'll stop by. I'm looking forward to sharing these new pieces and talking about the work.
🔊 Follow me on Instagram | TikTok | Bluesky | Spotify | Tidal
✉️ Email me at getittogether@laurendenitzio.com
📬 NEW PO BOX! PO Box 1253 Yucca Valley, CA 92286-1253