new year, continue the work

It’s 2025, the same work applies, but more.

End the occupation, Protect your Communities - Trans Kids, Trans Adults, Women, Seniors, Immigrants, People in poverty, Houses and Hungry people. Trust Black Women, Defund the police, stop calling police. Keep fighting for Universal Healthcare, Land Back. Affordable therapy, community gardens, less dependence on the systems - what does this look like? Let’s keep working for the future we can hope for.

I spent some time to update this website to be a bit more clear. Descriptions have been updated, as well as the introduction. New work has been added, as well as better video quality, and images.

So many changes have happened in my life in such a short amount of time and it’s been a bit of a trip, something that feels hard to put into words. In so many ways what I know is the work - the work is present, the reading, the making, and community building. Lots of small actions are collective and my hope is that my collection of small actions are connective and fruitful, hopeful and grounding, that somehow my small actions are connected with the many small actions that lead to wonderful change.

Warmly,

Billy (they/them)

recovering and building

I am shocked at what I’ve accomplished this season. I rode 108.7 miles at the Apple Cider Century, made my first plant based emulsion and print, and started developing film with caffenol and mint(enol)((thats what I like to call it). As I recover opening up some deep personal work for critique, I am grateful that I am working.

I also got a great opportunity to be a technical assistant in a 16mm film class where I even got to lead demos. It was like something I never even dreamed of until recently. It just seemed like it would be impossible to get to this point in my education and career. Next semester I’m looking forward to observing in a 300 level experimental sound class and working at Katelyn Patton’s Art Garden at the UIC Greenhouse. I have been there since last May but now that I am a grad student I will be there more often and researching and experimenting with eco-chemistry and emulsions, as well as teaching some workshops on how to be more sustainable and less dependent on toxic chemicals in art practice.

In the next couple of weeks I’ll be working with the Yah-Yah collective on making charcoal in a fire pit. This will be the first round but hopefully we’ll get better at this, theres always twigs that can be picked up and made into charcoal!

I’m going to make a second post showing some of the work I’ve made this semester but I just wanted to post something to show that I am here, as always struggling through the season of the least sun but still here and working.

Trial and Error

I just finished my 3rd week in grad school. I’m learning how to be an educator, and a make in practice simultaneously. The learning curve is requiring a lot of time in the studio which can be good and bad. Fortunately there is a lot of work to do, which is good, but unfortunately this means that my social and personal life has been suffering a bit.

One thing I’ve been doing to keep something ongoing outside of my life at school is cycling, and in 2 weeks I am going to ride a century, something I’ve been training for all summer. I’ve done this before but it always feels great to accomplish when I can. I feel close to being ready but could have trained better for sure.

In the lab I’ve been mixing eco mint chemistry for imaging in hopes to dial in a recipe that gives great results. I’m learning a lot but there are a lot of trial and errors. The beets are growing slowly in the garden and I’m looking forward to processing them and making borscht as well!

In the next month I will hopefully have some new experimental short films with music collaboration as well as some progress on my work at school. I’m looking to make cassettes and zines a part of my practice as well and I’m thinking about how and when I can accomplish this. Hopefully soon.

Also, theres no need for any toxic chemistry anymore, just saying. Eco chems work great!

long overdue post (a year and a half of life in one post!)

Heya to anyone who actually reads these! I can’t believe that it’s been a year and a half since I’ve made one of these posts. I’ve done so much in the past year it’s hard to quick about it.

First off FREE PALESTINE! I am livid at the layers of complicity in the genocide of Palestinians. End the Occupation now. Stop the killing, stop the hate! Israel and the US are leading this genocide as the US continues to provide weapons to Israel. There needs to be a weapons embargo, a ceasefire, and reparations and healing.

Taken at Refaat Alareer Memorial in December 2023 in Chicago : 35mm

on the wall is a banner that a bunch of us in our cohort painted together. The flag is a patch I had on my backpack all semester, and the print is of the photo above on fabric. (also featuring masks from Remnants of the Ceaseless - more on these below)

The biggest achievement is that I graduated from UIC with a BFA degree. At 44 years old I am still a bit shook that this actually happened. I’m not sure if I wrote about this before, and I’m not gonna look back until I’m done writing this post, but, I was diagnosed with ASD level 1 and ADHD inattentive in December 22. I’m still processing this. I was also diagnosed with hashimotos thyroiditis and have to take thyroid meds every morning an hour before I eat, this has been going on for about year.

In my practice I started to dig deeper into my research on identity, dependency, personality, experience, etc. I feel like this film was a good experiment to get all the ideas I have about identity out. It’s not everything, just some building blocks, but I learned a lot in the process and have learned so much more about what identity is just from taking some time thinking about it. (disclaimer: I don’t have rights to these archives, but they are a part of me each in their own way.)

Yolanda Herrera and I at Graduation

Tania Kelly and I at graduation

Brian Castillo and I at graduation

Some exciting things I’ve done since the last post include flying to NYC for In The Wings: Edgelands, a long weekend workshop featuring Deborah Stratman, Kevin Jerome Iverson, and Mary Helena Clark. All three filmmakers literally floored me and I learned so much, and had a blast! On the last night I was humbled as I dropped my phone and rendered it useless. The next 24 hours flying back to Chicago was a trip, but I made it and it was an experience for sure.

bodega cat in NYC on my walk to Union Docs

Then I applied for grad schools. I ended up applying to both UIC and SAIC only because I wanted to stay in Chicago. I got into both schools but SAIC was gonna be rough financially. UIC was much more affordable and more flexible because of how truly multidisciplinary it is! I chose UIC. I was in Jennifer Reeders class one afternoon and mentioned that I got into both schools and she took a post it note and write SAIC and a bunch of dollar signs, and UIC and one dollar sign and put a check mark next to it and handed to me. I still have that post it note! This past week I started moving into my studio and it’s been a lot of work. It will be worth it though! My apartment is not in the best shape right now because it’s like I’m moving out, lol. It’s going to be nice to have a studio!

studio space 2024

I’ve been in multiple film festivals, Interspace and Radical Drabble Fest, both at UIC. I was lucky to work as a cinematographer on multiple projects this year. 2 of which I can talk about, Brian Castillos Captive Tolerance Assessment.

poster by Tania Kelly

Poster by Seiya Abe-Bell and Brian Castillo - the yah yah film is on my Vimeo page. Squarspace and Vimeo don’t work well so head that way if you want to see “its two yahs”

For Brian’s film it was made up of still photography and I was camera 2, the color film photos, I also did some sound and even some acting! And Seiya Abe Bell’s Remnants of the Ceaseless I worked as a Cinematographer for the apartment scenes and some downtown outdoor scenes as well! It was fun being creative with both directors. Another cool thing is we kinda sorta but for real started an art collective called yah yah in March! We had a backyard art show, and we’re planning another even in the fall around halloween!

I have also worked on another one that I will excited to talk about when it’s ready! I worked with a raddd team and it was a dream set.

working on my final for Jennifer Reeders film production class

I also had my thesis exhibition with my senior cohort which included 30 artists and we worked so fucking hard to make the best show we could possibly make, and it was def great! I made a graphite animation that took me months to draw, then I filmed it on the oxberry at school, then processed it with caffenol, this took a while too because I had to time it just right. After that I learned how to make a contact print of a film loop and also processed that in caffenol. This led to becoming a volunteer at the UIC Art Garden over this summer and I’ve been hella lucky to get involved there. I’ve started following the lead of Ricardo Liete’s Photo Garden, and started planting my own plants to make chemistry. This coming week I’ll be at Northwestern for a phytogram 16mm film workshop! And the week after that I’ll start at UIC’s grad program!

Early in the season, Katelyn Patton and I are planting and prepping the garden

And here Elise Robison and I went to El Paseo to harvest some mint. This will be for a very exciting experiment soon to start!

And the first beet harvest was amazing! This will also be experimented with as well!

It’s been a while since i’ve went a good road trip so in June, Kristen and I went on the road for a whole month. I took close to 1000 photos, and over 2 hours of moving image footage. I also process rosemary for my plant project by roasting it on the dashboard and prepping it at a campsite. I’ve done a lot of camping and hiking this summer, as well as having a lot of really great times with friends!

On Friday the 23rd I’ll be at Northwestern for a Phytogram workshop, then it’s my orientation for grad school, and I start classes on the 26th. From what I have heard, the next 2 years might be the busiest time of life, as I will be working, and going to school…and training for a century in late September!

This week is also a big week because the DNC is in Chicago, and it’s right nearby the UIC campus. There will be a lot of people out and now is the time for Chicago to get our voices heard. I encourage you to do what you can to demand that democrats stop the genocide!

Free Palestine,

Thanks for reading,

Best,

Billy (they/them)

February 22, 2023

Hi,

It’s been a minute! I’m almost mid way through my 2nd semester at UIC’s art school. I’m now in their BFA program and it has been keeping me busy. I’ve also had the great opportunity to work in the Moving Image and Photography Labs.

I’m in the “burnout stage” of my education and spent took the morning off to work on projects and homework at home. It has been a nice break but I’ll head out for my photo class in about 50 minutes. There’s never enough time in the day.

Currently I’m working on some personal projects in animation, photo, and film production. Not much to update right now but I am investing all working hours to making art and duplicating cassettes without days off. This is the busiest schedule I’ve ever had but I am enjoying it even if my body hurts, and I don’t get enough sleep some nights, it feels like I’m a machine that just keeps working. Yesterday. I spent about 6 hours of frame by frame digital animation and while my shoulder hurt by the end of the night I feel like I made something I can be proud of.

Anyway, here’s a phone photo of one of a couple of my darkroom prints from this semester. Laterssss.

November 15, 2022

I should be working on my homework but I realized that I have a lot to update. I’ve been at UIC’s School of Art and Art History since August. I made a fast pivot from School of the Art Institute Chicago. I’m about 2 weeks away from completing my first semester at UIC and I’m stoked to say that I am learning a lot! I have made some new work that will be posted on this site soon.

June 11, 2022

Hi!

I am excited to share the news that not only have I graduated from Wright Community College and received an AFA Studio degree, I’ve also been admitted to SAIC this fall as a junior to work toward my BFA! It’s been a long 5 years at Wright and I’m looking forward to finishing my BFA at SAIC over the next 2 years and then working toward an MFA wherever my work takes me.

As of today I’ve updated this website to include drawing and stop motion, and I also added some paper works to 2012-2013 as well as some mixed media and my first sculptural work to the new installation category. I’m currently working on a video of the slide projection for warmth and hope to have that updated soon.

Hope you all have a nice summer and thanks for visiting.

best,

billy (they/them)

photo by Greg Fitzsimmons

July 16, 2021

UPDATE: The show at U.S.S. Gallery has been rescheduled for July 23, 2021 from 6-9 p.m. and the piece October 17, 2019 has been edited and renamed Becoming. Hope to see friends at the opening! After the opening the show will be by appt from 7/24-10/2. To schedule an appt please call the number on the flier below.

UPDATE 2: My video for A.M. Stations - Pop to Sunshine has been uploaded to Vimeo. Thanks for all who tuned into PRFBBQ 2021! It was a great time full of positive vibes. I’ve added a new folder on my portfolio named Music Videos, you can find this video there, and hopefully there will be more to come. I really enjoyed the process and you can read more about it on the vimeo link in the about section.

June 24, 2021

It’s been a while since I’ve made an update to this site so I figured I’d put a little bit of time into it today. After going through each page I’m realizing how much I want to make new work and show new work. The last series October 17, 2019 has been framed and will be shown at the U.S.S. Gallery in Chicago on July 18th! This group show will be appointment only and more info will be announced soon!

Considering October 17th, 2019 is complete and debuting soon, I felt it was time to add a new series to my portfolio. Last December I was encouraged to submit 10 photos to the annual Aperture photo competition, I had been processing rolls of film and scanning at home to keep myself busy throughout the year, and with this opportunity to show my work in a larger capacity I started the process of choosing the right photos. When viewing these 10 photos in order the title emerged easily, Memory is the Distance from Lonely to Empty. The title describes a feeling I’ve been experiencing since I film photography resurfaced in my life back in 2016. The absence or distance from people was a stark feeling, but it wasn’t all that new to me, which was proven when scanning. While I haven’t been very good at putting this feeling into words, the photos opened up this reality to me.

In other news, I’m stoked to announce that my debut music video will premiering at the PRFBBQ Streaming music festival this year! It’s a video for a A.M. Station’s song called “Pop To Sunshine” that has never been heard before! It was mostly shot and recorded during the lock down last year. The fest is from July 8-11 and I’ll post all info here on this page when I know more.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for visiting!

<3

billy t.