Whew… now that I’ve had a chance to unload my bag of photocopied goodness from this year’s Expozine, I thought it high time to draw your attention to the work of one lady I met there: Arlene Texta-Queen, who does, among other things, nude portraits of friends and acquaintances using felt-tip markers, the kind you probably bought for art class in eighth grade.

Admittedly I’m kind of a sucker for any high-intensity project that uses a lo-fi means of production to a nifty end, but even if you don’t give a care about stuff like that, her drawings are still well worth checking out. Her body of work forms a sort of alternative pin-up calendar of queer/underground/counter-culture/hottt ladies (and some fellas) in their altogether - not the kind of folks you usually see in your standard nude portrait. And definitely not rendered in glorious techni(Texta)colour. As exposed and extroverted as nude portraits can be, there is nonetheless something very tender and touching about seeing these people represented in their day-to-day lives - writing, riding a bike, lounging on the sofa - except naked. Do check her stuff out. I’ll be back with more tidbits (and hopefully less parenthetical yuk-yuks) soon.