Visionary Futures

What does survival mean? Who do we create for and why?

Visionary Futures critically explores questions about the future through the personal lenses of queer, non-binary artists of color. Featured artists, Antonius-Tín Bui, Chandrika, Lovie Olivia, Preetika Rajgariah, S Rodriguez, Y2K, and Time Zone, imagine possible trajectories through virtual performances, programs, visualizations, and gestures in this online exhibition.

From collective ideation, the use of plant and personal bio-data as source material, and the critical examination of contemporary currents of fetish and fashion, to conversations around culture, sustenance, and design, each artist shares insight into the spectrum of ideas found within queer BIPOC futuristic visions.

Visionary Futures began in February with Collective Ideation, a weekly series of artist-led guided meditations organized by Antonius-Tín Bui, and concludes on April 11 with Searching for Visionary Futures, a roundtable discussion with the artists and curator Ashley DeHoyos. All videos and live stream performances are available on the DiverseWorks Youtube channel, with workshops and programming presented via Zoom.

Visionary Futures builds upon Curator Ashley DeHoyos’ past projects Collective Presence and Bayou City Be All and highlights how queer, non-binary communities are at the forefront of cultural and social change. For Visionary Futures, DeHoyos asked these artists to engage in a series of conversations on speculative futures leading to the creation of new works that consider and further develop ideas of queer, LGBTQIA+, and BIPOC futurism. Prompts were designed to begin to unravel notions of survival and consider how and who do we create for and why? The project provides an opportunity for each artist to consider new paradigms for cultural exchange and the legacies that they seek to leave behind at the intersections of art, technology, and spirituality. 

Artists

Antonius-Tín Bui
Antonius-Tín Bui (they/them) is a spontaneous shapeshifter and poly-disciplinary artist with roots all over the country. They play in the realms of hand-cut paper, community engagement, performance, and soft sculpture to visualize hybrid identities and histories that confront the unsettling present. Their identity as a queer, genderfluid, Vietnamese-American informs the way they employ beauty as a refuge for fellow marginalized communities.

Chandrika
Chandrika (they/them) is a non-binary musical artist, actor, and founder of the digital platform Time Zone. As a multidisciplinary artist, their talents range from designing digital hyperrealist art to creative directing and the theatre. Their work employs scenic design, character improvisation, social engagement, and visual arts while exploring a broad range of subjects like revolutionary consciousness, liberation, and oppression.

Lovie Olivia & Preetika Rajgaria
Out of a desire for food-focused events rooted in social practice, artists Lovie Olivia (she/her) and Preetika Rajgaria (she/her) created Two Dykes and a Knife (TDAAK) in 2017. Their shared theory is that the dining table is a plentiful site and platform for copious intersections; be it your race, class, politics, religious beliefs, or orientation—food is necessary nourishment that unintentionally unites people. 

S Rodriguez
S Rodriguez (they/them) is a Texas-based interdisciplinary artist, writer, and arts organizer. They are the co-creator of Paraspace Books, a transient bookstore dedicated to queer sci-fi and speculative fiction. Their work most often explores the intersection of technology, futurisms, and the expansive possibilities of queer bodies in physical, digital, or linguistic spheres. 

Time Zone
Time Zone is an inclusive platform for creatives of all mediums to showcase their craft. Each project serves as an opportunity for local artists to be discovered through a one-of-a-kind, collaborative event. Time Zone’s signature content design creates immersive experiences using digital spaces. 

Y2K
Y2K (they/them) is a performance, music, and installation artist whose work moves freely through the realms of club theatre, music, and multimedia performance art. Their work explores themes of queer stigma and trauma as related to technology and online spaces. In their multimedia performances, they embody a personified version of the Y2K Virus/Millennium Bug, spreading queerness through technology.