This week we explore the collage art of Greg Hines. Greg uses visual storytelling to challenge conventional perceptions of queer sexuality. This exclusive interview offers a glimpse into Greg Hines’ artistic process, inspirations, and experiences.
Greg Hines’ artwork is a provocative exploration of the interplay between sexuality and the broader human experience. Through collage he invites viewers to see beyond the immediate eroticism often associated with his source material, encouraging a deeper, more nuanced reflection. As he eloquently puts it, “I hope the art excites and opens the viewer to a reframing of queer sexuality beyond a primitive urge or cultural taboo.”
Hines’ creative journey is marked by an openness to the unexpected. His process, whether meticulously cutting circles or viscerally shredding, is a dance between control and chaos. Guided by the core impulse of each work, images take on new meanings as they interact with different backdrops and contexts.
The interview also explores Hines’ involvement with Natural Pursuits, a community that celebrates body neutrality, self-expression, and creative exploration. From attending photoshoots to facilitating group projects, Hines has been an active participant. His transition from attendee to a project leader brought a unique perspective to the events, sparking conversations about sexuality, nudity, and creativity.
Join us in this journey as we delve into the mind of Greg Hines. Accompanying this interview are examples of Hines’ collage work, along with behind-the-scenes photographs from the Natural Pursuits Minneapolis event where collaborative art came to life under his guidance.
STRIPDYCH
You can follow Greg’s collage journey @stripdych on Instagram.
ARTIST INTERVIEW
Natural Pursuits (NP): Can you share what initially drew you to the medium of collage and how you decided to focus on reimagining vintage queer pornography in your work?
Greg Hines (GH): I wouldnโt call it an origin story, but as a closeted tween I plastered the back of my bedroom door with all things Sarah Michelle Gelllar. It started as a curatorial process. I used collage to display aspects of my personality. Later in life, Iโve used the curation of images as a way of mining my subconscious. I comb through stacks of books and magazines to extract color combinations, appealing fashion, icons and symbols. I gather all this material and start asking, โWhat is this?โ
The vintage porn stepped in once I recognized the catharsis collage provides. I wanted to channel the compulsive, primal energy of my sexuality and collage became a way to create something out of that energy (other than an orgasm). I could walk away from the work and feel both the erotic satisfaction of an art process and the hard evidence that something was created from that process (other than cum).
NP: Could you discuss the themes and messages you aim to convey through re-contextualizing vintage erotica?
GH: When I introduced vintage erotica, I knew it needed to be transformed somehow. Slapping some porn on a collage felt manipulative, yet another drop in a big salty ocean of thirst traps.ย I started drawing parallels between my curation process and the infinite scrolling of my social media feed.ย Itโs funny that we call it a feed, isnโt it? We are force fed all this content and we rarely have time to digest it.ย At times, Iย wonder if I might be enabling my own brainwashing.
How do you digest something? You tear it apart and let it mix in with all the bile and acid! I started shredding and re-constituting the strands by weaving them together, panelling them with other images. I enjoy the juxtaposition of taking an explicit act of queer sex and cross-pollinating it with, say, a flower!
The themes often arise out of the mixed media. Iโve been using an old photography book with black and white images of Western pioneers which inevitably stirs up ideas of masculinity, domination and ruggedness. Iโve also been collaging against the backdrop of star clusters from satellite images and the result is so different. I can lean into themes of fantasy, multiverses, the endlessness of infinite space and the consequence of time.
NP: The use of vintage materials brings a historical dimension to your art. How do you see your work contributing to discussions of LGBTQ+ history and culture?
GH: In my lifetime, queer identity has gone from something tokenized and counterculture to something normalized, yet ever-expansive. Imagine if Dorothy landed in Oz and was like โThis is my home now. There is no place like this!โ
Paging through vintage queer magazines I found a time capsule. You start to see how LGBTQ+ culture (especially queer cis-male culture) got cozy and even flirted with the problematic environments it was relegated to. There is plentiful idolatry of muscular straight-acting men, questionable consent practices, secretive relationships and sexual acts in queer, cast off spaces. My art claims that reality while allowing an opportunity to re-examine the consequences of our history.
Itโs not all problematic! Metabolizing some of these images and reconfiguring their context can be healing and self-reflective. At the Natural Pursuits event, a few people looked at vintage queer porn for the first time ever and saw representation uncharacteristic of their cultural upbringing.
GROUP COLLAGE
At our Minneapolis event, artist Greg Hines arranged a collage station for our attendees. Here, we present a glimpse behind the scenes as the group engaged in the collaborative collage-making process.
ARTIST INTERVIEW (CONT)
NP: What kind of emotional or intellectual response do you hope to evoke in your audience when they view your collages?
GH: People will feel and think what they want, but I like to imagine they might see through a sexual image to explore something more nuanced. There is a reason we say, โIโm turned on.โ Sexual energy can flip a switch and blind us to the larger context of whatโs happening. I hope the art excites and opens the viewer to a reframing of queer sexuality beyond a primitive urge or cultural taboo.
NP: Can you describe your creative process, from the initial idea or concept to the final collage? Do you have any specific rituals or practices that help you get into the creative flow?
GH: There are two ways Iโve been working: shredding and cutting circles. Inevitably, something shreds beyond all recognition or the circular cutting tool bungles an image. Being unattached and open to the utter devastation of that digestion process helps get the creative juices flowing. Often, one image stands out as a core impulse of the work. I imagine what it might pair with or how pasting it against the backdrop of a starscape or jungle or western frontier might derive a narrative.
Once I start pasting images, new questions emerge as to the shape, form or frame the collage makes available. If Iโm ever stuck or the work feels flat, Iโll bring in a new element or eliminate another. I selected my instagram moniker @stripdych on the premise that when three elements combine they generate a wider scope or emergent thing. I use that as a general rule in life and art making.ย
The third principle could just be me. Working with vintage gay porn necessitates second guessing my sexual attachment to an image. I often find the work becoming flat when I arrive at the recognition that a sexual image just has a hold on my libido. It becomes about that one thing. As in life, it never quite feels like itโs complete or final.
NP: Youโve been an active participant in Natural Pursuits events, from attending photoshoots to collaborating on projects like the Minneapolis shoot. What was it like going from being an attendee to running a group project?
GH: I was nervous, at first, about bringing sexually explicit images into the event. As a participant, I appreciate how mutual nakedness diminishes the sexual charge of nudity or near-nakedness.ย It ended up being just fine and a conversation piece.ย I always find the most startling part of the event to be when people are putting their clothes back on. Itโs like the fall of Eden!
Making the work a collective act felt supportive too. People were able to direct their attention to a creative project if they needed a break from socializing. Facilitating the project gave others a sense of agency. I didnโt need to direct the collaging process, so folks could explore and contribute as much or as little as they wanted. I got a sense that some of the participants got inspired to go home and make their own collage art.
THE RESULTS
The collage created by the group took up and entire coffee table. Here’s a taste of the moments we created.
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