Each painting in this series was made with materials from Cliff’s Variety, the gay hardware store of SF.

Living in the Castro from 2017-2019, I spent all the time I could at Cliff’s, an institution positively glowing with gay history.

As a hardware store, art supply, fabric shop, gift store, and costume haven, it contained all the diverse expressions of queerness held in the Castro. Staffed by elder gay men who had retired from years in creative industries, rugged gay bears in leather harnesses, and a few tender elder lesbians (not enough!) this butch femme combo of a store was my haven.

Inside its walls, all was possible. From drag queen wigs and shoes to butch metal hardware, Cliff’s is home.