Kim Leutwyler Giddy-up

This is a self-portrait. I recently took a trip to the Australian desert to help a dear friend make a queer cowboy film. It was a life-changing experience, involving unexpected flooding, epic dust storms that turned the sky red, and an emu named Toto who’d been shot in the neck with an arrow just before we arrived. Toto survived and we fell in love.

The layered abstract brushstrokes are representative of the beauty, turbulence and wonder that I experienced on that trip. I’ve worn one of my favourite leather harnesses and a fringe bra as a nod to my fellow queers, as well as my cowboy hat and rope.

Kim Leutwyler, 2022