Attractor: Speculative Masculinities features objects that are conventionally associated with regional masculine activities in the North American Midwest. During personal explorations into the perceived space of gendered craft, I began referring to these objects as ‘mancrafts’ , a call back to the “mancave”.

This installation focuses on reconciling perceived and normative mansculinities with the covert glamor and gaudiness of fishing ephemera and mancrafts, which often employ bright colors, holographic effects, and even glitter for their deceptions. These sculptures perform in quotidian modes employing materials such as paper mache woodglue and housepaint that parody the materials used in their real-life counterparts.

Viewed through this recontextualized lens, these glittery articles steeped in the gender performance of masculinity represent a manifestation of object drag. Harkening to the deception innate to drag performance, these paper mache sculptures evoke irony through feigned gender performance, creating a critical opening for new masculinities to inhabit the future.