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n the unassuming streets of Birmingham, lamp posts, walls and windows are adorned with humble scrawlings, band logos, graffiti tags and sometimes political nuances. Between the peeling stickers and Posca pen strikes, you may come across a whole new type of city dweller. Elongated necks, long flowing hair, confident or triumphant faces - these neon characters have infiltrated the streets and shine a little light onto the queer art scene, and its all down to one ginger. Ginger Dan, otherwise known as Danni Evans, is the creative whiz behind these mystical creatures. The 28 year old has been full of sprite and spark, just like their illustrations, since they can remember. “I’ve always been super expressive - I was a dancer as a teenager and wanted to be an actor, until they cut the course from the all boys school I was at. That’s when I got into art.” Ginger Dan’s art mainly resides in ‘demons’ - “an out-righted opposition to stuffy, gated hierarchy.” These vivid creatures, each unique, are Danni’s way of expressing queer empowerment. “This empowerment is not just for me, but for anyone else who doesn’t feel like they belong. If I don’t create, I become depressed. Birmingham’s walls have become my creative crossfire.”
The demons are an expression of emotion - “sass” as Danni puts it. “I get a lot of bullshit because I am an outwardly queer human, I identify as genderfluid which doesn’t neccesarily make me a flamboyant person by nature. I wear pastel, but I’m not soft. I’m sick of eyeballs rolling in my head because of the stares I get.” Some of Danni’s characters include Fluid, a pouty and sassy character who doesn’t care about their wonky eyeliner. There’s also Pride, with one long unicorn horn, who is fed up of being a fantasy to people. These defiant characters are so important to queer representation and in Danni’s succinct words: “Art is a narrative.” Danni added: “An exploration of identity that has as many voices as possible only adds to the story of it all. The more queer represenation, the more other queer artists will feel like they belong - which is something I struggled with until I started making my own work.” Danni’s advice for budding queer artists is “get good at ignoring the thing that makes you stop”, along with their dad’s mantra: “The best time to start was yesterday.” Seen a demon on your travels? Be sure to take a snap and tag @ginger_dan on Instagram.
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12/11/2019 22:56