This article is part of Hyperallergic‘s Pride Month Seriesfeaturing an interview with a different emerging or mid-career transgender or non-binary artist each weekday throughout June.
Philadelphia-based trans-male artist Paper Eoghan Buck is intrinsically drawn to the natural world and its care amid generations of shifting boundaries and human mistreatment. As a visual artist and writer, Buck has largely influenced his practice with decolonial and anti-racist ideologies through community organizing as well as archival research. Seeking to reverse Indigenous erasure, Buck probes the physical and prescribed histories of his chosen sites that have been altered to fit the American socio-political landscape to develop a multidisciplinary practice grounded in the connections between land stewardship and justice. protector for the marginalized under the control of both. capitalism and colonialism.
Hyperallergic: What is the current orientation of your artistic practice?
Eoghan Buck Paper: I am interested in place-based research practices that challenge settler colonial constructions of the “American landscape,” which I believe does not really exist. I tend to focus on places of personal significance and ask how the less visible social histories of that place remain embedded or impact the culture and ecology present today. I use visual and historical archives, interviews, organizational collaboration, and the physical materiality of place to guide the direction of what emerges in my writing and visual creation. I recently walked the full length of the Housatonic River, which I grew up on, and am working on a large-scale map that overlays the historical and contemporary geographies of the watershed. The map aims to challenge the Indigenous erasure that is culturally pervasive in this region and draw attention to toxic pollution that has gone unaddressed for generations.
For an upcoming residency at Recycled Artist in Residency (RAIR) in Philadelphia, I’m building a floating windmill in the Delaware River that’s modeled after a historic Windmill Island that once stood here. The windmill will supply a sort of printing press and distribute archives that will reflect on the transformation of the river and the impacts of colonization on its ecology and culture.
H: In what ways, if any, does your gender identity play a role in your experience as an artist?
PEB: I always experience gender identity in context — I don’t usually isolate gender identity as a singular influence within my practice. I will say, however, that being trans has often felt like a constant power struggle. It sharpened my focus on power relations. Queer culture has been essential to my survival and has transformed my relationship to kinship. It introduced me to a collective mentality towards memory and organization. My art practice is a space where I intentionally nurture the questions that help me pursue what I want most in life; relationships of reciprocity, in the broad sense, in the places where I breathe, work, play and rest. To love and be loved in a world where many worlds fit together.
H: Who are the artists who inspire your art today, or what are your other sources of inspiration?
PEB: Gosh – too many artists to name. I am lucky to have many mentors. I was heavily influenced by my previous involvement in anti-racist political education and Indigenous sovereignty movements. Today, however, I must say that it is the earth itself – the plants and insects and all the ecological spaces that I interact with on a daily basis – that inspire me to keep learning and creating. I am an avid gardener and landscaper, and nurturing complex ecosystems is so challenging and fascinating. Ecological and social dysfunctions often grow together. The same is true for healing. I feel more nourished when I’m outdoors, learning by doing.
H: What are your hopes for the LGBTQIA+ community right now?
PEB: “Stay safe, stay strong” – that’s what black transgender activist Miss Major always says. It sounds simple, but what more can you ultimately do every day? Trans people are always under attack. Value your needs. Treat your loved ones like goddesses. Trust yourself. The questions you ask are significant. Either way, persist. Be you.
