To Stage Queer Legacies, Artist Duo The Huxleys Create Zany OTT Self-Portraits

In May of this year my friend who created and runs The AIDS Memorial Instagram, reached out to me about connecting with a pair of artists concerned with creating queer utopias that he thought were extremely important: the Australian married couple Will and Garrett Huxley. The minute I opened their Instagram accounts populated by extravagantly staged photographs I immediately said: “YES! That would be amazing!” He quickly connected us and in June and we had a zoom conversation—while it only lasted less than an hour (as Zoom calls can be) it could have gone on for longer. The Huxley’s are based in Melbourne, Australia and create work of fantasy enacting the hopes and dreams that they had growing up as gay men. When they described the process for their mesmerizing self-portraits wearing self-made costumes, hair, and make-up, in DIY sets, I could not help but feel giddy.

Soon that conversation turned into how we knew The AIDS Memorial founder (who prefers to remain anonymous) and the legacies he has been able to preserve and show the world by broadcasting stories of people who lost their lives to AIDS. They told me about their own memorialization project, Bloodlines, encompassing self-portraits inspired by iconic queer artists and collecting the stories of those lost from HIV/AIDS related complications. I teared up when they described this series and I knew that this would be an amazing interview. My only regret is that I missed their performances when they were visiting New York earlier this year and there is no doubt I will NOT miss it when they come through next. Authorship is often inseparable with artistic duos and collective work, so, after our initial call, when the Huxley’s responded to my emailed questions as one voice I was not surprised. Enter the often-glittery world of The Huxleys and enjoy falling in love with it just as I have.

How do you see your Bloodlines series/project continuing? Could it continue on without you both and if so how do you imagine that looking like?

Bloodlines is a project where we set out to celebrate the incredible queer heroes we loved and lost to HIV/AIDS. These voices which inspired us so much. Growing up seeing powerful and extreme queer artists that had to fight for their art as they came up around the time of the sexual liberation in the 1970s gave us hope, it gave us life as young isolated queer kids. These voices were a creative lifeline. They made you dream of a place like Xanadu ‘where nobody dared to go’. We would not be here making our art without them. Losing so many of these artists to HIV/AIDS had a lifelong impact on us. Being young queer kids and seeing your heroes dying was something which has never left us. We owe these voices so much. We have this debt of gratitude to pay back. We carry their torches and stand on the shoulders of these creative giants and we celebrate them and keep their names and legacies alive. We made artworks, costumes, videos, music and quilts which honoured these legends. As we share their stories with younger queer people and we see it as educational. But we learnt so much too, and continue to hear about artists who should be still with us. We hope people might see our work and look into who these artists were and take inspiration and live as fearlessly and bright as they did. Our dream is to take this work around the world to different places and keep telling these stories and finding out about artists from new places that we should be remembering and honoring. It could grow forever.

You described the quilt project you began in Australia highlighting, it truly moved me and inspired me hearing about the stories you have heard and the people you have met telling you about loved ones they have lost. I loved learning about Cinnamon. Can you tell me about this project and another person that you discovered/learned of?

Part of our Bloodlines project involved making new AIDS quilts designed to honour and celebrate the legacy of all these artists that meant so much to us. We had ‘stitch n bitch’ sessions were we invited the general public into work with us and submit artists and loved ones to be included on the quilt. We’ve now made 2 massive quilts with enough panels to make a third. It was so special bringing people together to be creative and to share the stories of these heroes that should be still with us. In Sydney we had an experience were some queer community members were angry that a certain artist wasn’t included on our quilt. At first their response was hostile but we reached out to them and explained the project was initially about artists we loved and it was never meant to be a definite list of who should be remembered. And they told us about an incredible Australian artist called Brenton Heath Kerr who made wild costumes and powerful performance art, that is so connected to our lineage and work. It was so beautiful to learn about them and we were able to make a new panel for them and include them in our 2^nd quilt. It was away of learning about this shared history and legacy.

Another really special story happened when we visited Garrett’s Mum in a small coastal town in regional NSW. Garrett’s Mum has lived next door to a woman called Fay for over 20 years. The town is a quite older community and like many small towns seemingly conservative. Garrett’s Mum had told her neighbours about our project and when we visited Fay came over with a scrapbook and shoe box of memories and faded images of a dear friend of hers known as ‘Cinnamon Brown.’ It was one of Fay’s oldest and most cherished friends who had died of HIV/AIDS complications many years ago. Cinnamon was a stunning drag performer from the 60’s and 70’s and moved to Melbourne to be part of the famous drag troupe ‘Les Girls’ which partially inspired the movie Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Fay told us about how special Cinnamon was and how when they would have drag parties in the town they were from Fay would keep watch at the door in case the police came as it was still illegal to be gay in Australia at the time. We put the most beautiful photo of Cinnamon on our quilt and she was hanging in our exhibition and people were asking about her story! and now all of this small town is hearing about Cinnamon and about her glamorous life. It was so special to share local heroes and keep our queer ancestors shining in the light.

You met as individual artists and came together with love and have created beautiful collaborations. One of the first things I was drawn into about your work is the surreal otherworldly self-portraits created.  Can you tell me more about what the process looks like for when you decide to create one of these images?

We both grew up in small suburban places on either side of Australia. Will in Perth Western Australia and Garrett in the Gold Coast. These places were steeped in a culture of athleticism, masculinity was hard, tough and homogenous. It was rough growing up in an environment that was homophobic, misogynistic and hostile towards difference. The 1980’s and early 90’s were not an easy place for young strange queer boys at odds with their environments. It was art that made us dream and gave us a window into another world. A fantasy where we could fit in and find ourselves. We envisioned a glamourous queer utopia where you could be anything and look anyway you dreamed of. A magical detour from the world around us. When your environment is the opposite of how you feel inside you need to create one that works for you. It was this ‘fantasy’ and love or art, surrealism, glam rock, music, fashion and queer culture that saved us and set us free. So our work is always about this exquisite world where you can be any shape, any gender, you are not classified by any rules. The make-up, costumes and imagery we create set about to establish a place of sensual surrender to the imagination. And we like to offer that to our audiences too. In times of darkness, it is so important to enter the light and to escape, even for a moment.

We always start with drawings, it’s very freeing, and taps into that childlike imagination that is fearless in many ways. We aren’t great illustrators but make each other laugh and dream up wild ideas and then we spend hours in our studio making costumes, and designing hair and makeup and headpieces to create our imagery which is often inspired by nature and art history. Then we listen to music and start making! We do everything together, just the two of us. Using self-timers and relying on each other’s skills to make our fantasies come true.

Your works are very multilayered, with videos, sound, performance, and photography and described to me how this began when asking to perform at a festival/music event in Australia. Can you tell me more about that?

We always start with visual art predominantly photography and video art. We both studied fine art with a focus on Photography and film making. We like to think of our work as a visual assault, it’s like very saturated, too much is rarely enough in our world. Many of our heroes are actually performers people like Leigh Bowery, Grace Jones, Bowie, Prince, and the artist Cindy Sherman. When we were asked to bring a giant 7 metre glam rock mural we had made to life for a festival in Tasmania called Dark Mofo (part of the MONA gallery) we created a fictional glam rock band called SOS (Style Over Substance). We put on a massive stage show with video art, extreme costumes, choreography, back up dancers, musicians, pyrotechnics and even performers dressed as diamond dogs. It was a real scene. But there was no music. We were all performing at 100% intensity in complete silence. The crowd were equally confused and delighted. People said it was like a really queer John Cage and his seminal work 4:33 seconds. From that performance onwards things snowballed and we kept saying ‘yes,’ which is a liberating and scary thing to do, but it pushes you to try new things. We have always loved the quote by punk empresario Malcom McLaren who said ‘It better to be a spectacular failure then a benign success’ we took that idea and ran with it. Once you stop worrying about failure it makes things much easier. We love all the artforms and we love the freedom of trying things out. We make costumes, music, photographs, sculptures as well as video and performance art. We work hard to look this ridiculous and we always say we take silliness very seriously.

You have travelled around so much this year! What is one space that you really enjoyed visiting and why?

We were fortunate to be asked to perform at a queer festival in the Northern Territory in Alice Springs called FabAlice. It was such a beautiful community feeling. With local artists and first nations drag queens. Afterwards we drove to the centre of Australia to the incredible spiritual landscape of Uluru. It is a sacred place for the Anangu people, the first nations people who are the oldest living culture on earth. They looked after and cared for this land for thousands of years. Uluru is the largest single rock in the world. Approaching it we were brought to tears, it’s hard to explain the way it disarms you, undoes you. We felt its energy right through our bodies. It has such a sense of peace, calm and mystery. Its magnetic and magical. The colour of the earth and sky and the red rock are all so deep and hypnotic, changing slowly over time, the sun setting and rising over this profound natural formation. We spent days just walking and around and absorbing the energy of this special place. And learning about the incredible dreamtime stories of the Anangu people and how they lived in this incredibly hot and dry environment and listened to and cared for the lands surviving and thriving for thousands of years. It was an incredible experience. It reminded us of our impermanence as humans and the great lasting power and importance of the natural world. We truly believe and felt that Uluru is the spiritual heart of Australia.

What is a moment you have really enjoyed and look back on so far this year and see as a highlight?

Getting to travel to the USA this year was so special for us. It was our first time in the US and getting to share our art internationally was so enriching. We were asked to perform in Austin at the Fusebox Festival and the community was so kind and encouraging and we felt so embraced and met so many wonderful artists and made some great friends. Being so far from home and feeling such warmth and support from strangers made us feel a sense of hope for humanity. Love is so important in the world and we really felt that on our travels.

During our discussion you both described to me the feeling of acceptance and the ability to be your true authentic self while walking around and exploring the streets of New York earlier this year, an experience not always experienced in your native Australia. Where do you see and hope for Australian queer culture to go and evolve?

The amount of art and culture we were able to experience in New York City was so nourishing and inspiring. When we were not making work or performing we were engrossed in the galleries, museums, fashion, theatre, and dance of New York. It still feels so alive to us. And we felt a sense that you can be or look anyway you like in NY and no one cares. We felt so free and totally without self-consciousness. We met so many kind and curious strangers, and we had people yelling affirmations at us on the streets. People go out of their way to compliment you and encourage you to be bigger and better. When we were in costume people were so engaged and warm and connected. Americans seem to have a really positive energy where they want you to be the best you can be. It was inspiring for us as in Australia people are much more laid back and reserved and we have a thing they call the ‘tall poppy syndrome’ which cuts you down when you are too much or too big. That does not seem to be the case in New York at all. We particularly loved downtown and the lower east and west village. So many book shops and so much history. We really understand why so many of our queer heroes came to New York to be part of that freedom and that dream of being whoever and whatever you want. It was very liberating. We wanted to take back that positive energy to Australia and practice that kindness and openness and lift one another up. We hope the queer culture in Australia only grows and finds more joy, more support and people feel that sense of freedom. I think Australia needs to celebrate its artists more and value how much that makes a culture. For so long artists have had to leave and make it first in other countries before they are celebrated here. We need to lift people up and champion their art and creativity. Sport is so big here and there is such an imbalance and I think once that starts to shift it will help. Once people start realising that if we all loved each other more and celebrated our differences it would be a much better world.

Are you working on any other projects currently and if so can you tell me a little bit more about them?

We are currently working on a project about sport. The sporting world has always been a difficult one for queer people to navigate. Particularly as young queer people at odds with the competitive athleticism associated with the sporting mania that grips our country. Growing up we were excluded, humiliated and terrified by sports. This project is designed as a way for us to reclaim that space and find humour from that trauma. It is a way for us to put the art back into the sport.

We’ve long lamented the way sports dominates are media and cultural interests. One only need to glance at the papers and TV news to see the time and space dedicated to sports over arts and culture. The money given to sports over arts is completely out of balance, We wish this disparity did not exist but this project is a way of combining these two worlds. Our series sees us attempting to play sports dressed as giant surrealist objects. Playing tennis as a giant sequinned ball. Trying to swim dressed as a giant tulle covered alien in heels. The imagery contrasts us with other queer models ‘performing’ sport. channelling the ‘realness’ of the athletic world. And, a great contrast to us as physical abstractions to motion. It really captures how uncoordinated and ‘alien’ you feel to the competitive sporting world.

What is the one question you wish someone would ask you, about your self or your art practice, and what would your answer be?

Garrett: A question I would like to be asked that I never have been asked is about my Indigenous heritage. It was something that I found out later in life. It was not anyone’s fault that I did not know earlier except for centuries of colonialism and racism within this country. When I found out, I researched for many years as I wanted to have the correct details and also allow my family to feel comfortable with this new found knowledge. I felt very alone until I started having conversations and publicly acknowledging my heritage. It quickly became clear to me that it is common of my generation for families to have their Indigenous history erased. That is why I felt like it was important to acknowledge mine publicly. It has been so healing for my family, myself and to be accepted by Mob (a collective term used by Australian Indigenous People to reference people with Indigenous heritage). I also do this in honor of my Great Grandmother, Grandmother, and Mother. My Great Grandmother was an Indigenous woman of Yorta Yorta/Gumbaynggirr heritage. She was erased from our family after abandoning her five children and husband. Upon researching our family history, I realised she did this after one her youngest children died in an accident. I cannot imagine her having any support for this loss as an Indigenous woman in the 1940s  Australia. I saw this as a fracture in our family history and something I hope to help heal.

Will: A question I would like to be asked is why you are driven to make the work you do. We had a beautiful conversation with Australian photographer William Yang who said that all we really want as queer people is our stories to be told and celebrated, as for thousands of years our voices were hidden and kept silent. It really struck me as someone who struggled so much with my sexuality. The fear, the bullying and the denial. All those years waisted living in painful secrecy. And its time you do not get back. That is why I am driven to make our work so extreme, so colourful, so loud and visible. Its making up for lost time. Taking up space! Freud used to talk about the idea of ‘the return of the repressed’ and how If you repress something it will eventually come back in a monstrous form. And that is what our work is. It’s the queer monster coming back to take that visibility and make it wild and unhidden. I had a very complex relationship with my father and he was homophobic when I was growing up and when he found out I was gay he did not speak to me properly for years. Sadly I lost him to cancer 13 years ago. When he got sick, I think he realised that him being ashamed of me was not worth it and we were able to reconnect, but I only had a short time with him. I am a big believer in the idea of change and forgiveness and I’m sure given time he would of grown to be proud of me. And that is another reason I am driven to make the best work possible and be as joyful and creative as possible, as I like the idea that he would of seen how happy this queer life has made me and how I was able to celebrate being different and make it my art and career. It was not a negative shameful thing. But something to be proud of.

Our hero filmmaker, John Waters said ‘take what society tells you is wrong with you and amplify it. Make it your style, and you will win in the end’ and that is what we’ve done. We have taken the queer, effeminate, over-the-top, weird kids we were and turned them up to 100.

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