The Epidermis. With imagery taken from Playboy magazines dated to 1985, this layered cheesecloth tapestry depicts cars trying to navigate their way through a cyber-inspired formation. Racing cars being an important aspect of family history, they are used as a way to show this concept of ideal manhood; it is a way to protect oneself, a performative drag.
Sheet II
Sheet III
Sheet IV
Sheet V
TRANSEXUAL
SHELLS
55555
GRANDPATERNAL
UNEXPERIENCED
NOSTALGIA
five
LOVE
TRANSEXUAL
MASCULINITY
5
HORSE
BODY
MAN
GOD
LOVE
1 2 3 4 5
BROTHER
TRANSEXUAL
BROTHER
SHELL
FIVE
WHAT MAKES A MAN
Blending the imagery from 1980s American magazines, his grandfathers, his brother, and his own created monoprinted creatures, What Makes A Man explores Dyllan’s Transgender experience and the complications that come with creating his own Queer manhood in a culture surrounded by toxic masculinity. Five sheets hang as Dyllan's five layers of skin, each sheet slowly moving towards his self-portrait on the wall, him using his own skin as protection in his unexperienced nostalgia of boyhood.
2025, Graphite powder, acrylic ink, and image transfer on assorted hand-dyed fabrics and rice paper. Hung with handmade wooden brackets. Adorned with an Abalone Shell. 9 x 7.5 feet.
Displayed at The School Of The Art Institute’s Spring 2025 Bachelor of Fine Arts Show