Queer Futurism - 2025

Kyle Bradford -

Painter/Curator

Originally from Bakersfield, CA; Kyle has made Seattle their home. Their art combines vivid layers of palette knife paint strokes to juxtapose colors and bring forth the complexities of the subject.

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Their passion for the arts stems from understanding the impact of not having representation of their community. When growing up, the Harlem Renaissance, Tulsa Massacre, and historic art and architecture of African countries were taught to them by his parents and extended family outside of school. When asking different professors about African Art History, it was often devoid of the same regard European history was given. 

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Now as a curator Kyle focuses on the art history and representation of Black, Queer, and BIPOC history. Giving a voice to the stories of those often looked over by art institutions.

Mónica MC. Artivista

Mónica Mendoza-Cawthon (Móni La Artivista), hails from South King County, where her keen eye for the ethereal and her dedication to environmental and social justice were nurtured. Her work is deeply informed by over a decade of experience in advocacy and law, as well as her Juris Doctor degree.

Expressing herself through painting, Mónica's creations are fueled by her passion for social and environmental causes, her rich Mexican heritage, and her love of science fiction, horror, and mysticism. Her art celebrates and uplifts women of all genders, LGBTQ, Black, and Brown communities. 

Mónica's art has graced the walls of various coffee shops across the Puget Sound region and has been showcased at cultural events like Fiestas Patrias at the Seattle Center. Recognized for her contributions, she was honored with the 2019 Roberto Maestas Legacy Award by El Centro de La Raza. 

Through her art and cultural endeavors, Mónica seeks to inspire others to dream boldly, heal deeply, and act courageously. Her hope is that her work will become both a mirror and a spark - reflecting truth, resilience, and the power to effect change.

Scott Coffey

I am Scott Coffey, a painter, printmaker, graphic designer, and collage artist from Seattle, Washington. My lifelong interest in books, comics, and mythology has translated itself into an art practice of narrative work centered around stories, beliefs, and the intersection between the two. My work is imbued with color, as I am fascinated with the visual power and strong emotions that pigments provide. Due to my graphic design background, much of my fine art work also involves words, either in descriptive narratives alongside a piece, or in writing directly on a panel. The combination of words and images has a unique power neither element can provide on its own, and I value and attempt to channel that combination to tell stories that are personal, political, and queer.

Stevie Hues

Stevie Hues (they/them) is a Seattle-based artists known for creating paintings, murals and digital  illustrations that combine vibrant palettes, layered textures, and fantastical subject matter. Their practice celebrates queer identity while investigating outer space, alien life forms, and speculative worlds inviting viewers to imagine realities beyond conventional boundaries.

John Setzer

John Setzer is a 2Spirit visual artist working in Seattle. They grew up “chasing color” into and through liminal spaces in the Pacific Northwest, a practice which persists to the present and is inspired by their mosaic background. In 2007 they earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography and sculpture from Cornish College of the Arts, but disability created the opportunity to work in watercolor to better accommodate their access needs. This change in course led to a revolution in their passion for color and prompted the curiosity needed to innovate and grow as an artist. Storytelling elements in their work are formed by the communities they engage with as a queer and Native person, especially through music and political activism. These overlapping contexts influence John’s unique perspective and broaden their visual language in a joyful rebellion against normativity, atomization, and the structures of unjust hierarchies.

Moët McClain

Moët McClain is a self-taught multi-media collage artist specializing in creative, historical perspectives. She received her BA in History and Social and Criminal Justice and uses formal education, paired with lived experience, to add a new perspective to both the art world and historical record. Trained by a public historian at Coe College, the artist realized the significance of sharing history education beyond the academic setting and turned to art as the most accessible medium. With centuries of familial roots in Oklahoma and a decade of living in Dallas at the base of her upbringing, the 25 year old artist now works to share her story with audiences in the Pacific Northwest. Moët is an emerging artist who was just recently discovered in March 2025. Her work was first exhibited in the Annual Womens’ Exhibit with Gallery Onyx and is currently showing at Onyx for the 20th Annual Juried Exhibit. The Queer Futurism: My Favorite Future exhibition with Cebreazy Paints Gallery is her third time showing her work. The artist is currently working on a series of collages to honor her history as a Black Cherokee Freedman who grew up in a neighborhood established by survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Utilizing paper collage as her medium of choice, Moët crafts new views of Black American life in Oklahoma through folk art.

hotabolitionist@gmail.com

hotabolitionist.wixsite.com/jazzyhistorian

Ian Thiry

"Originally trained in tradtional oil painting and charcoal drawing, now digital mediums feel more natural with ease of setup and quick painting of objects from life, either on my iPad or even on my phone."

Nell Kerr

Nell Kerr (he/him) is a multidisciplinary artist born, raised, living, and working in Seattle. A self taught
artist with a BA in body modifications as therapy from Fairhaven Interdisciplinary College, he works
primarily in figurative and surrealistic acrylic paint and illustrative print zines, also incorporating
watercolor painting, mixed media, and collage elements into his work. His most notable body of work
is an ongoing series of nude self portraits creating a pantheon of fantastical altar egos. In the past
year his work has been featured at local galleries including Slip, Side Rail Collective, Base Camp
Studios, Phase 55, Push/Pull, and more.
My work comes from a love for the world, a desire to document and romanticize the feelings of being
alive. All of my work to be self-portraiture, whether I am literally reproducing my own physical form or
not. Every piece is a self portrait of my own gaze, a representation of how I see and feel the world
around me, a portrait of my own internal world. My sources of inspiration include the beauty found in
romanticizing the mundane, from worship of the body, from a desire to visually capture complex
emotions which defy words, and similarly a desire to capture moments of change and transition. I
find infinite beauty in my own body, in the way I experience emotions, and the magical mundane
minutiae of my everyday life. Be it an acrylic painted nude study, or a found items collage, my work
is intended to be the translation of a moment in time, the experience of a feeling. My largest body of
work is an ongoing self portrait series, creating a fantasy world of alter egos. As a transgender artist,
my relationship with my own body heavily influences my artistic practices; much of my self
portraiture work feels in a way complementary to, or documentative of, the artistic act of self creation
that I enact in my own physical form. I am the artist and the art piece.