Boychild

Boychild is a performance artist who is famously fluid both in her non-binary gender presentation and her mind-bending body movements. Since getting her start in the drag spaces of San Francisco, she has appeared in Ryan Trecartin’s work, inspired a collection for Hood by Air, modeled for Saint Laurent Paris, performed with Mykki Blanco, and collaborated with Korakrit Arunanondchai. But Boychild is more than just a muse—she’s a radical artist in her own right, and she sees her character as a vessel for her work. She used to make paintings of her character; now she has become the canvas, transforming herself with elaborate makeup, colored contacts, and neon lighting. “I find it very interesting to hear the ways in which people describe what I do, but I try not to,” she says. “Words are constraining for me. Using my body and performing is so much easier for me to explain something.”