When Someone Sees Us: Expanding Ideas About Queer Erotic Art

Join moderator Jerri Allyn and panelists Amina Cruz, Cade Moga, Jamison Edgar in a lively discussion about the line between eroticizing and exoticizing Femme, Trans, and BIPOC bodies.

Erotic? Exotic? Sexualities? How does one present sensual women, Trans figures, and Bodies of Color in the arts without exoticizing them?

Photographer Amina Cruz, will present work exploring outsider cultures’ Queerness as well as pornography experiments, investigating the space between transformation and identity.

Multidisciplinary Artist Cade Moga will reflect on their practice of auto-erotic self-documentation and self-exploitation from Cis pin-up model through Trans-masc porn performer, and beyond.

Jamison Edgar, Co-curator of the following exhibits, will share the artwork of some artists from: Erotic Codex; You Make Me Feel Mighty Real: Drag/Tech and the Queer Avatar; and Queering Digital-Artists: In Response to Anti Trans Legislation.

As we bring diverse artists into established organizations and dominant cultural institutions, how might we ensure their work will be respected and appropriately contextualized?

A native Angeleno, Amina Cruz hitchhiked around the country before earning her BFA in Photography from Parsons NY, and an MFA from UCLA. Her interests are in Queer culture, film/analog photography, and exploring the space between transformation and identity, currently exploring outsider cultures of Brown Queer punks.

Cade Moga (they/them), a gender-non-conforming artist from Brazil, works across film, installation, and performance. After immigrating to Los Angeles and studying at Otis College, Cade moved from femme pin-up modeling toward exploring Trans-masculinity. Their work merges body-horror Queerness and South American magical realism to redefine erotic, feminist, and Brazilian narratives.

Jamison Edgar (they/them) is a Queer curator shaping exhibitions of radical exuberance that foreground Queer, Trans, Black, and Brown artists. Based in Los Angeles, they co-founded Departure Lounge, directed Honor Fraser Gallery, and collaborate widely. Their projects and writing appear internationally, alongside leadership roles with SUPERCOLLIDER and the New Media Caucus.

Jerri Allyn’s (s/he, shimm/her) diverse artistic practice encompasses a range of media. Their art explores complex themes: power dynamics, identity formation, and the intersections of bodily autonomy, race, and social class. Allyn has exhibited internationally and received major grants and residencies, including a Rockefeller, Lila Wallace, Joan Mitchell, and NEA.

This talk is part of FXLK PLAY: Artists-in-Mischief, Devotion, and Mythmaking on view in West Hollywood’s Plummer Park, 19th February–19th March 2026, Thursdays through Sundays Noon-5p