The Hypodermis. The deepest layer of skin holds what is most important. While before the skin was shrouded with what the outside is trying to force inside, this sheet has images of grandfathers, the bull, and the C: representing the closest relationships, the shell: representing the semblance of a home, and the horse: representing the past lives. The images taken from Playboy magazines have now been sewn on, showing that their influence is just on the surface, influential but not completely altering.
Sheet I
Sheet II
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