Artist Ava Glori-Jean Tuitt showed their vision for BELONGING: kindred gathered in a dark wood, reveling in song and dance. Read on to learn more about Ava’s process.
What inspired you to originally want to be an artist?
Comic books and various superhero media. I wouldn’t be drawing if I didn’t spend half my childhood copying X-Men covers. X-Men Evolution made me want to make chic interpretations of all my favorite things; that’s kinda my whole practice at this point
What advice would you have for people looking to become an artist as a career? What are some of the highs and lows they can expect?
Be honest with yourself, understand what you want your point of view to be, who you want your audience to be and what work is actually important to you. How often clients/collaborators are going to respect that vision will dictate the highs and lows of your career, but a commitment to that honesty is the most important
What would you say have been the top highlights of your artistic career so far?
My mural is still the most special to me. I wanted to have a large scale mural probably since I was 13 years old or something around that age. Aaron Douglas is one of my largest artistic inspirations, and I really did my Harlem Renaissance big one for that one. And now I have one, it’s on long-term view in a New York City museum and features all black trans people. which I don’t know has ever happened before—which is fab as fuck.
Who are some of your favorite artists currently?
Ute Petit, Leyla Faye, Janiva Ellis, Sexyy Red, Montêupnext, Madison Lewis and @sacugar on Instagram
What inspired the FIYAH cover piece? Was it one particular thing or a convergence of different inspirations?
Oh my God it’s such a convergence of so many things. Ultimately, it’s a love letter to telepathic project babies for black friends that share a brain. It’s very “tree of life,” very techno-mystic. But yeah, it’s about finding heaven underground/in the trees with queer people, cus that’s kinda how I live my life
What was the most difficult lesson you had to learn as an artist?
People want to use you! Oh my God, they want to use you so bad. It’s sick, and there’s so many parts of yourself as an artist that have nothing to do with the art—and people still want to use that shit, too. Learning that I didn’t have to give them anything that I didn’t want to is still a hard lesson that I’m learning
What projects do you have coming down the pipeline? Anything you’re particularly excited about?
I just finished a body of work. I’m calling her Colony, she’s an epic self-love story. I don’t know when I’m gonna show it or where or how, but it’s finished. I feel like I finished my debut EP, and I’m so excited for folks to see it, however they do
Tell us where we can find you. Social media, website etc.?
I’m EunuchDoll everywhere that matters. @eunuchdoll eunuchdoll.com
