Trevor Burt, a young photographer and peculiar‘s newest Featured Artist, encapsulates a biosphere of pattern and story. Each image reads like a river stopped—you still feel the rumble flowing before and after. The seen and unseen keep us looking back, and for this we have chosen Burt as our featured artist. Burt earned his BFA in photography from Utah Valley University, but hails from the golden hills of Sacramento, California.

When did you start creating art?

I have always been drawn to the arts but had no idea what medium to choose. It wasn’t until I had my very first camera (a brand so extinct I can’t even remember the name) and went to New York for a middle school graduation—bougie, I know—and started snapping everything I could see. From there I graduated to more and more expert cameras and found my passion.

Why are you an artist/photographer?

Art is my therapy. It has been the most consistent passion, hobby, and coping mechanism in my life. It has never abandoned me, and I will never abandon it. It has done so much for me in how I see myself: someone who is capable and ever changing. We all need to find something that does that for us, and art, mainly photography, has been that for me.

What photographers do you most admire?

There are an incredible number of photographers I’m drawn to, and they often change as I do. Currently I’m obsessed with Ed Weston, Nan Goldin, Platon, and Peter Yang to name a few. Photographers who can create a beautiful portrait or tell an amazing story can have as much of my attention as they want!

What’s your artistic process?

I love pre-visualizing an image. I love searching for lines or textures or forms that stand out and then composing that into something complex or simple but interesting nonetheless.

What inspires you to create?

Not to sound hippy dippy, but to sound completely hippy dippy, everything around me. The way rivers collide. Buildings stacked on top of each other. The lines around a smile. The colors in the vegetable aisle at the store. Everything is radiating with energy and something unique that I’m itching to capture. Sometimes I don’t know what it is until I’m done editing and sometimes I know right away. But I am *insert clapping hands* obsessed with diversity. It drives me to keep breathing and exploring.

What’s your favorite thing you’ve ever created?

I have a lot of favorite images, but as of now it might be my undergrad BFA show: Seeing Slowly. I was super fortunate to go to Europe to study art history, and I was just enamored with all the sculptures we came across. I wanted to create images of these statues in a way people have never seen before. It felt amazing to accomplish that. I have a few publications with Utah Valley University that I’m proud of as well.

What effect do you hope your photography will have on people?

Anything that inspires someone to FEEL something is a success in my book. If it stirs emotion, good or bad, it tells me people are growing when they see my imagery. If my work can inspire or change any part of a person to be something more or help discover a piece of themselves then that’s all I could ever ask for.

Where do you see yourself in the future?

I hope to be working in a studio or photographing for any of my favorite magazines. There are so many avenues and realms I want to explore with photography, but I hope I’m always doing it with a team or someone.

What’s it like being queer where you live?

Currently I live in northern California and I love it, but I used to live in Utah! I’m not an expert on queer communities, but I feel like each state has a queer community with different stories and habits while having similar themes. I love that each queer community isn’t identical but can be so much the same.

What makes you peculiar?

I love meeting new people. I’ve always found myself to be a wanderer instead of someone who roots himself in one place or with one group of people. I love listening and exploring. I think everyone has something that no one else has. Meeting people, hearing stories about their lives, or seeing how they choose to live their lives opens my eyes to how big and beautiful the world can be.

Trevor Burt hails from the golden hills of Sacramento, California, but recently finished his BFA in photography at Utah Valley University. He has been featured in various UVU journals such as Touchstones, Essais, Warp + Weave, and recently collaborated on a book of fine art, “Arthur Futurus,” with the Art & Design Department at UVU. When he’s not behind the lens, he can be spotted at his local Target or Chipotle.

Find more of Trevor’s work online at trevorburtphoto.com or follow him on Instagram: @trevorburtphoto.

Amanda Steele

Life can get hectic, and it can be hard to take the time to focus on reading and enjoying art. If you feel like you used to love curling up with a good book and want to make more time for that in your life, supporting and participating in art and media by queer creators is always an admirable thing to do. We’ve put together a list of 10 upcoming books (some poetry, some prose) and a couple artists doing exciting things in 2019. You’ll want to get your hands on these, trust us.

1} Soft Science by Franny Choi

This collection of poetry will be out in April and is created by one of our favorite contemporary queer poets. This poetry book is set to explore intimacy in its many forms and features Choi’s strong, singular use of voice. Expect a lot of humor as well as emotional moments from this chapbook.

2} When Brooklyn Was Queer by Hugh Ryan

At peculiar, we love great nonfiction in all its forms. Learning the history of queerness in the United States helps us understand being queer in the modern day. This book tells the history of queer Brooklyn starting in the 1850s and going up through to today. You can get this book starting March 5.

3} Comic Book Covers by Jen Bartel

Comic books are the perfect medium if you love visual art as well as storytelling. Jen Bartel is a well-known comic book colorist and artist who creates vibrant, eye-catching covers for many Marvel comics. She also regularly opens her own shop and sells feminist and queer pins, patches, fan art, and more. You’ll definitely want to keep an eye on her work in 2019.

4} The Tradition by Jericho Brown

This book of poetry is the third collection put out by Jericho Brown and will be released on April 2. The poetry in this chapbook looks at evil and its normalization in both the past and present. Brown looks at topics such as queerness, fatherhood, trauma, and blackness, and he does so in ways that play with form in new and exciting ways.

5} Unbecoming by Anuradha Bhagwati

This memoir tells the story of Anuradha Bhagwati’s own life, and it’s sure to be an insightful, nuanced book. Bhagwati is a bisexual women of color who tells about her story as a daughter of immigrants from India who then became a queer woman in the military. Now, she’s an advocate for policy reform in the military and wants to change things such as the ban on women having combat roles. Available March 26, 2019.

6} These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling

While serious works of poetry and nonfiction are always loved, sometimes you just need a break to read something a little more fun and upbeat. This novel is about a modern witch in Salem who has to team up with her ex-girlfriend to save her coven and town from a Blood Witch. This book is definitely in the YA category, so if you’re looking for a little palette cleanser that’s a good time, this is a great option. Expected release is May 28, 2019.

7} The Porch (As Sanctuary) by Jae Nichelle

This collection of poems is the first by Jae Nichelle, a spoken word poet from Atlanta who has received national recognition for her work. Her poetry is sure to combine more traditional forms as well as spoken word techniques and her poems have been described as “eccentric and mysterious.” You can get this collection in July.

8} Art, Comics, and Writing of Kate Leth

Kate Leth is a well-known creator on Twitter. She’s a fangirl, hilarious tweeter, and talented artist. Probably her best-known work was Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat for Marvel, she has also written and created other comics. And, like any great queer artist these days, she makes her own enamel pins and fabric patches. You’ll definitely want to keep an eye on what she creates this year.

9} The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg

The Music of What Happens is love-story and coming-of-age story about two boys, Max and Jordan, who on the surface are opposites. One summer in Mesa, Arizona, the two start to fall in love and will have to figure out if getting what they want is worth the risks. If you’re looking for a sweet romantic story to keep you warm on a rainy weekend, you’ll definitely want to check this book out. Plus, this book is already available, so you can start reading it now.

10} The Black Condition ft. Narcissus by jayy dodd

This collection of poems is part-memoir and covers the author’s experience with starting gender transition, using the inauguration of the current administration as a timeline and paralleling device. The poems in this collection are described as being a mix of autobiographical to meditative, and you can get reading when the collection comes out in April.

The works on this list are only the start of all of the exciting, diverse books and art by queer creators being released this year. You’ll be sure to find something you love that makes you laugh or makes you cry, or maybe both.

You can also check out some more on these lists:

https://www.lutherxhughes.com/blog/2019forthcoming

https://bookriot.com/2019/01/02/2019-lgbtq-books/

https://www.hypable.com/most-anticipated-queer-ya-books-2019/

 

Amanda Steele is a queer poet and writer with a degree in Creative Writing and Gender Studies from Utah Valley University. She was born and raised in Idaho and currently lives in New York City. Amanda works as a freelance writer and blogger and has been published in peculiar, The Dandelion Review, and Sun and Sandstone, among others. She loves to mix her love of writing with her passion for activism and fandom. You can follow her on Twitter: @adamantaflame or on her blog here.