New York
New York marked a breakthrough.
The Gay Soup Project brought my work to Select Art Fair during Frieze Week 2015. Inspired by pop culture, queer identity, humor, and commentary, the series transformed an iconic American symbol into a playful yet provocative conversation about visibility, pride, and belonging.
Gay Soup Project
The Gay Soup Project began unexpectedly in my studio. I had been creating soup can paintings inspired by pop art and the iconic work of Andy Warhol when Carolyn Kramer, gallery manager and co-owner of Jo Hay Open Studio, saw them on my website.
She encouraged me to push the concept further by creating “gay” versions, transforming the familiar soup can into something playful, provocative, and deeply personal.
What followed was a growing series of cans featuring queer identities, slang, archetypes, and cultural references. Some were humorous, some cheeky, and some more pointed, but all celebrated visibility, pride, and belonging. Each can became a small portrait, reflecting the many ways we see and name ourselves within queer culture.
The series eventually gained wider attention and helped lead to my inclusion in the Select Art Fair during Frieze Week 2015 in New York.
Select Art Fair — New York, 2015
Frieze Week, New York City
During Frieze Week in 2015, I was invited to exhibit at Select Art Fair as part of the Jo Hay Open Studio artist roster. It felt like a meaningful moment—bringing work created in my studio at Indian Orchard Mills in Western Massachusetts into the energy of New York. Text Me was featured in the exhibition while Gay Soup began gaining attention for its bold, pop-inspired commentary on identity, culture, and community. Around the same time, Gay Soup was used in promotional materials before the piece was even fully completed—an unexpected and exciting moment that marked an important shift in my evolving practice.
Inspired by Andy Warhol, “15 minutes of Gay” grew from a simple idea: gay culture became pop culture. As queer culture became woven into music, fashion, media, and everyday life, I reimagined the iconic Campbell's soup can into something playful, bold, and celebratory.
