“There is more of a psychological charge to this new work. The photos are more fraught and complicated as a result.”

Tell us about your creative relationship to pornography.

Growing up, my mom and dad ran a porn store called "Under Cover Pleasures." So I have a very unique relationship to pornography. It's very normalized for me and makes perfect sense why I use it as material for my art making. It's given me a very specific perspective on desire and sexuality. I am more interested in what is implied with the body and its gestures than the overt explicit nature of the original centerfold.

Which actress would play you in a movie about your life?

Melissa Leo. I can count on her to self fund her oscar campaign by taking amazing glamour shots and paying to have them published. She's a hustler with no shame and I like that.

How do you see your work? How has it changed since you began?

Early work of mine was very concerned with loss, longing and memorial. It was born out of the loss of my uncle who died from complications of HIV/AIDS and was subsequently erased from my family. In the last year I have become concerned with ideas around sex, violence and American Identity. There is more of a psychological charge to this new work. The photos are more fraught and complicated as a result.

Briefs! Boxers are like wearing shorts under your pants. I don't get it. 

Who are some of your favorite artists working today?

The artists that I like most are Devan Shimoyama, Marley Trigg Stewart, Mark McKnight and Ann Weathersby!

Favorite drag queen?

NYC's very own Linda Simpson! Not only is she hilarious but she's a drag historian. I got to curate some of her photographs of the 90s east village drag scene from her project "The Drag Explosion." Every queer should go out and buy her book. We're lucky to have her!