Phasing (2025) is a projection and textile installation that was a recipient of the 2024 Lunar Arts Award grant from the Space Sustainability Research Grand Challenge (SSRGC) through UNM’s ARTSlab.

Phasing is an interdisciplinary work that explores the connection between the moon and queer gender expression in cultural tradition, built on the foundation of the quilt as a symbol for communal history and the moon as a lens into underground subculture. The live-processing video projection and mixed-media quilt use the moon’s relationship with light as a symbol for the dynamic, celestial strength of gender-fluid identities.

Queering the moon is tradition- some moon gods have indiscriminate gender indicators like the Aztec god Tlazolteotl, while others would cycle gender like the Babylonian god Sin. Plato portrays a masculine sun, feminine earth, and androgynous moon. Some interpret these gender roles as representing roles in the transfer of energy as light. The sun projects light and the earth absorbs it, while the moon does both. The transformation of the moon’s appearance also reflects themes of transition and identity. In fantasy, the werewolf’s tie to the lunar cycle parallels puberty and hormones, and the vampire turning explores the angst and uncertainty of transitioning societal roles.

The 70in x 100in quilt displays an abstract form of the moon made of strategically colored and finished panels and beads. The projection consists of gendered imagery being live-processed through a digital noise patch influenced by voice training recordings and data on the moon’s phase, tilt, and gravitational pull from the LRO’s 2024 prediction.