staff: action:Pride Spotlight: Milo We’re keeping our spotlight rolling with @milomars. Milo is a
staff: action: Pride Spotlight: Milo We’re keeping our spotlight rolling with @milomars. Milo is a queer, trans illustrator, and a plant enthusiast—he only lives with about 70 plants—based in Massachusetts. His work mostly focuses on body positivity, queer issues and relationships, while almost always incorporating plant friends. Let’s hop right in! Your work does a beautiful job of conveying love for what it is—just love. Talk to us how this theme has come to be prevalent in your work. Thank you! Being queer is a big part of my identity. When I was growing up, I rarely, if ever, saw queer love in movies, tv shows, museums. I wanted to make art that showcased and provided a sense of queerness that I was missing in traditional art and media. I asked myself, “What do I want people to take away from my artwork? Who do I want to reach out to with my art?” This sparked not only self-realization but also a desire to represent queer love in my artwork. Representation in art, media, music etc. is so important and needs to be done fairly and by queer people. You recently did a piece with HuffPost for Pride as well. Where did that inspiration come from? Yes! I was really excited to share my work with HuffPost for Pride. I really wanted to focus on the strength of the community while also giving a nod to Pride’s origin and the Stonewall riots. It’s important to reflect on what Pride originally was, what it means to us today, and what is going on in the community. It’s also important to appreciate those who made celebrating Pride and queerness possible in the first place. My HuffPost piece depicts a sense of community while also showcasing each character’s individual self-love and self-pride—I wanted to reflect that relationship with oneself and one’s body. What advice would you give to any aspiring artist? Post art and be proud of it. Too often artists will only post stuff they think others will like or small doodles, and then remain mostly inactive because they worry that they’re not good enough yet. Also, tag your art properly. This is important because tags allow you to reach a whole new audience. Build your community by reaching out to other artists. This will open doors to new friends, new experiences, and even good advice. It’s so important to try new things and to learn new techniques. Lastly, keep practicing! You are doing great, and regardless of where you are right now, you can get to where you want to be. You and your art are important. You identify as trans and queer. How did your journey to self-discovery help you with choosing to use the term queer? I used to use specific terms but found that the more I kept growing and changing, the more my identity and how I referred to myself changed. Sometimes labels feel like small knives to me. The more I slap on a label, the more I feel obligated to stick within the confines of that label. The term “LGBT+” seeks to be inclusive but is still an umbrella term that often doesn’t include the diverse range of identities and experiences within the LGBT+ community. “Queer” came from a desire to be inclusive, and it allows for growth and change within my identity. Of course, this isn’t the same for everyone—“queer” can mean different things for different people and can be very hurtful so it’s important to be educated and understand that only those who self-identify as such should really use the term. But for me, the word Queer resists definition. Saying “I’m queer identifying” gives you a sense of my identity without really saying much about my gender or sexuality. Anyone who isn’t cisgender can also describe themselves as queer, as a rejection of heteronormative ideas that are forced onto them. More importantly, this is a term that was taken back from those who used it to hurt people like myself—and which has since been reclaimed by a growing number of people. Thank you, Milo, we’re grateful for you sharing and giving us an insight into your identity and art. Tumblr, who are some other artists we should look into? Use the tag #tumblr pride to share. This interview has been condensed for clarity. You cant post this, it has females presenting nipples. -- source link