To Be Queerly Seen In The South: Drag, Collage, And The Creative Magic of Mo Taylor

Fracture. Mixed media collage. 2023.

A new zine series published by Astral Cherry Healing Arts, entitled Queer/Trans Magic, seeks to cultivate a space for LGBTQ2S+ people to share creative works that explore, honor, and transform lineages of queer magic & resilience.

The premise of the series is simple: creativity is a powerful, alchemical form of resistance to cultures of domination. Through our creativity, we forge space for our voices and our bodies—past, present, and future—to thrive in the process of becoming. Who we are, where we come from, how we belong, and the stories we share exist in an infinite web of connection that needs tending; and artists are uniquely poised to tend to and illuminate those connections.

But where is the magic in Queer/Trans Magic? From from collages that draw us into the lush forests of queer Alabama, altars that support transdimensional communion with oneself, and poetry that ushers us through the process of reincarnation — the first issue, Shapeshifting, is full to the brim with creative works that illustrate the inseparable bond between our bodies, our communities, and our landscapes. One of 11 featured artists, Mo Taylor, sat down with me to share about their life, their creative process, and the three mixed media collages that they submitted to the zine.

The Beginning: Fanzines, Punk Music, and DIY Culture

Just to start us off I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about who you are, what you create…

I’m Mo, I live in Alabama and I’m going to school right now for graphic design. I also do illustration, zine making, and a little bit of photography and collage which is what I submitted to the Queer/Trans Magic zine.

And could you share a little bit about how you found your artistic voice? What compels you as an artist?

Yeah, that’s a good question. I think through zine making. That’s definitely helped me find my voice. Being in school for art is a tricky thing because it makes you, I don’t know, view your art through the lens of someone who is trying to use it for advertising — trying to make money in some sort of way — and it kind of doesn’t become yours anymore. So with zine making, it’s kind of like I can just make whatever I want and there’s no pressure on me for it to be good or anything. Through that I really found my voice and found a lot more freedom in the art that I make.

Hell yeah. How did you get introduced to the zine making world? What was your first foray into that culture and community?

So actually, this is kind of wild to think back on now, in high school I had a creative writing teacher who owned a zine store. So one day he just brought his giant collection of zines and we had an assignment to make our own zine. And just that introduction was so cool because I feel like not a lot of people get that kind of experience and insight into what zines are.

For awhile I really wasn’t making them anymore. Then the pandemic hit and I decided to make a Talking Heads fanzine. It was open for anyone to submit and I had a lot of fun with that. I ended up meeting my girlfriend through that which was pretty cool. That [fanzine] really reintroduced them into my life and just making things for fun.

Apart from this Talking Heads zine is there any zine that has really stuck with you? Either of your own making or one that you’ve encountered?

Yeah! I found a nice community of people who I follow on Instagram, who also make zines and who’s work really inspires me. There’s this one artist, Alyssa Giannini, their username is @CraftOrDIY.Art – they make really incredible zines. They have this zine that they make – which was the first zine that I ever purchased – which was just kind of documenting their life in that kind of casual style. Just talking about their life experiences. That has just really stuck with me. Their art style really influenced me as well. I really dig their stuff.

This kind of leads into the next question I had, which is who or what are your biggest artistic influences? Are there some other creators who really speak to you?

Yeah, totally. I actually bought that zine from CraftOrDIY because I’m a huge Jeff Rosenstock fan and went on Etsy and just like, looked up Jeff Rosenstock and their zine was the first one to pop up. But yeah Jeff makes punk music and has been a part of DIY culture for a very long time. Just his approach to making things and the stuff that he covers in his music has inspired me personally. And I’ve made a Jeff Rosenstock fanzine as well, which CraftorDIY submitted to and I was like “wow, this is really a full circle moment”.

Whoa, yeah that would be awesome to realize someone that you look up to creatively also wants to be part of your project. Wow. A phenomenal moment.

To Be Queerly Seen In The South: Betrayal, Comfort, And Belonging In Drag

Pivoting a little bit, you also wrote in your submission to the Queer/Trans Magic zine about your relationship to the Alabama landscape and how you feel simultaneously betrayed and comforted by it. Can you share about how you navigate that duality?

As far as nature, I’ve lived here all my life and I do find the nature and the lush forests here really beautiful. But at the same time it’s mostly miserable here all year because it’s just so fucking hot. Which like, I’ve come to appreciate the heat but there’s some days where it’s just unbearable. And I feel that way kind of socially as well because, I don’t know, I grew up resenting the fact that I lived in Alabama just because I went to a really conservative high school and just felt like I didn’t fit in at all. And now I’ve moved to a pretty conservative college as well, but within that I’ve also found pockets of people who have really just helped me understand who I am.

I have found a drag community here in Auburn. I do drag sometimes which is awesome. It’s so cool that people down here exist and fight for queer voices. So it’s really those glimmers of hope that I find in a place that feels like it isn’t for me. It’s nice to find other people who are like you.

Thank you for sharing about that. Could you speak to…well you found your drag community and some of these other queer voices. How do you keep yourself connected to that while you’re navigating life in the South?

Yeah I mean, there’s a Pride organization that is part of the drag community here that has really been just so supportive in finding other people who are like me, other trans people who can help share their experiences. There’s trans support groups that I go to here that have been really helpful. It’s just trying my best to go in-person to meet these other people. I was terrified [at first].

Drag was something I always wanted to do but was way too terrified to do, and got introduced to just through a club at my school. All of the drag performers came and were like, “well if you want to learn we’re here to teach you”. And it was terrifying but I was like “I don’t think I’ll ever get another opportunity to do this”. I’m glad that I went for it.

Has doing drag influenced any of your other artistic mediums?

Yeah, totally. Especially with the collage that I submitted—the forms in those photos are of my body – and having to take photos of myself when I don’t even necessarily like looking at my body was challenging. But at the same time drag is an artform where people are forced to stare at you. And so you just kind of have to be okay with that and learn to be comfortable with that. So getting confidence from doing drag has influenced me to do other stuff in my work that I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do beforehand.

Do you have any particular teachers of drag that have impacted you, and I mean I know it’s a community so, are there performers that you look up to?

I have two drag parents. One of which is a gender fluid drag King and the other is a clown-monster drag Queen. They’ve definitely influenced my drag style. And it’s also really awesome to see — there’s so many drag performers who exist outside of the typical “Drag Queen” image. The first thing that comes to mind when you think of a Drag Queen. So they [my drag parents] explore drag in such an interesting way.

And sometimes some of the queens from Drag Race come to perform here. I got to meet Crystal Methyd who is one of my favorite Drag Queens ever. And I was talking to her and was like “Yeah your style is just so cool, and it really influenced my drag. It inspired me to try drag” and then she was like “That’s awesome, you’ll never be as good as me” and I was like “I know!” [laughing] “I’m aware.”

Yeah, definitely not aspiring to that, hahaha.

Wrapping Up: Unexpected Transformation & Gender Euphoria

In these past few answers you’ve spoken to it a bit, there’s the process of taking pictures of your body that you had to get really comfortable with – and that drag helped you step into – to make the collages that you submitted to the zine. Can you speak to some of your creative process more? What goes through your mind as you create?

So the photos that I submitted were actually for this photography class that I was taking at school. We just had a collage assignment which was great because I didn’t really want to be in the photography class in the first place just because I’m much more of an illustrator. The collages kind of gave me a chance to incorporate graphic design into that photography project.

So I just had a bunch of images of nature photography that I took already and then I was like, “well how can I make this more interesting?”. So I got the idea to just take photos of my body which was something that I did by myself, just kind of standing on a chair awkwardly in my apartment to try and get a full photo of my body. [laughing]

I’m really happy with the collages and how they turned out. But this would have never existed if I hadn’t taken that photography class.

How serendipitous. What do you hope viewers take away from the artwork that you submitted to the zine?

I guess they could kind of think of their surroundings and how that has influenced their identity, since that’s what I was really thinking about while I was working on those pieces.

Okay, so last question…what’s next for you creatively? Are you working on anything exciting?

Yeah, I’m working on my final project for school which is taking up the majority of my time. Which is nice on one hand because I do like making zines so it’s given me a chance to really work on that. I’m kind of getting tired of working on it, but once I graduate I’m hoping to create more of them.

I made a mini zine a couple weeks back about gender euphoria and all the little things that give me gender euphoria. So more personal projects like that are exciting to me.

Can people buy that zine from you?

Yeah if they are interested, I could totally send a copy for free or however much they can pay. Most of the time when I have zines available, it’s through Instagram where people message me (DM) to get a copy.

To view and follow Mo’s other work, follow their Instagram page @Mo.Tart.

How does the more-than-human world draw you close?

Queer/Trans Magic #1: Shapeshifting is available on Astral Cherry Healing Art’s store as print and digital copies.

The second issue, Luxuria, will be opening its call for submissions from LGBTQ2S+ creatives on November 1st, 2023.