Fairy Prince

ONE Archives at the USC Libraries
909 W Adams Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007

June 13th - September 13th, 2025

"Fairy Prince," my debut solo exhibition, explores the Radical Faeries through collage, textiles, film, cyanotype, and archival installation. The Radical Faeries is a loosely affiliated countercultural network cofounded in 1979 by California-based gay activists Harry Hay, John Burnside, Mitch Walker, and Don Kilhefner. Combining queer consciousness and secular spirituality, they steward land trust sanctuaries within a queer anarchist framework. Though most Faeries dwell in metropolitan areas, they convene at these sanctuaries for Faerie Gatherings during the pagan high holy days.

As an artist-scholar, filmmaker, and faerie, I drew on my year-long artist-in-residency at ONE Archives and recent field research at a rural Faerie Gathering to assemble a temporary sanctuary within the gallery, inviting visitors into a space shaped by ritual, erotic play, and collective worldbuilding. The show brought archival materials into dialogue with original work, grounded in my transdisciplinary practice and embodied research methods.

I employed archival intervention, trance-like collaging, and poetic film editing to reframe the Radical Faerie lineage from a trans perspective, foregrounding the faerie concept of sanctuary as an active, imaginative practice that has increasingly included and been shaped by trans faeries over the past decade. Through a mix of personal and historical materials, and guided by a commitment to non-linear time, collage methodologies, and poetic cinema, I reclaimed space for a gender-expansive presence within the Radical Faerie archives at ONE, and proposed a vision of radical queer kinship grounded in multiplicity, impermanence, and care.

SANCTUARY, 2025. A kaleidoscopic collage film about the radical faeries.

Presented as part of a site-specific installation within "Fairy Prince."

The entrance to the exhibition.

Partial installation view, gallery exterior:

(L) subject-SUBJECT consciousness, 2025

Collage of fabric, appliqués, stickers, beads, glitter glue, hand-stitching, photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, and a photocopy of a 1987 photograph of Harry Hay by Stuart Szidak from the ONE Archives. Mounted in a white shadow box frame.

(R) The Great Mother, 2025
Collage of fabric, appliqués, beads, glitter glue, hand-stitching, pink bubble wrap, and photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Mounted in a white shadow box frame.

subject-SUBJECT consciousness, 2025

Collage of fabric, appliqués, stickers, beads, glitter glue, hand-stitching, photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, and a photocopy of a 1987 photograph of Harry Hay by Stuart Szidak from the ONE Archives. Mounted in a white shadow box frame.

The Great Mother, 2025
Collage of fabric, appliqués, beads, glitter glue, hand-stitching, pink bubble wrap, and photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Mounted in a white shadow box frame.

The entrance to the exhibition.

Text reads:

"Fairy Prince explores the Radical Faeries through collage, textiles, film, cyanotype, and archival installation. The Radical Faeries is a loosely affiliated countercultural network cofounded in 1979 by California-based gay activists Harry Hay, John Burnside, Mitch Walker, and Don Kilhefner. Combining queer consciousness and secular spirituality, they steward land trust sanctuaries within a queer anarchist framework. Though most Faeries dwell in metropolitan areas, they convene at these sanctuaries for Faerie Gatherings during the pagan high holy days.

Halo Starling, an artist-scholar, filmmaker, and faerie, draws on their year-long artist-in-residency at ONE Archives and recent field research at a rural Faerie Gathering to assemble a temporary sanctuary within the gallery, inviting visitors into a space shaped by ritual, erotic play, and collective worldbuilding. The show brings archival materials into dialogue with original work, grounded in Starling’s transdisciplinary practice and embodied research methods.

Starling employs archival intervention, trance-like collaging, and poetic film editing to reframe the Radical Faerie lineage from a trans perspective, foregrounding the faerie concept of sanctuary as an active, imaginative practice that has increasingly included and been shaped by trans faeries over the past decade. Through a mix of personal and historical materials, and guided by a commitment to non-linear time, collage methodologies, and poetic cinema, Starling reclaims space for a gender-expansive presence within the Radical Faerie archives at ONE, and proposes a vision of radical queer kinship grounded in multiplicity, impermanence, and care.

THE GREAT GARDENS OF THE FAERIES PROSPER, 2025.
Embroidered 12" x 12" vintage handkerchief, screenprinted with an archival drawing from the New York Radical Faeries Collection at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Mounted in a 12" x 12" glass shadow box with gold-plated edges.

Foreground:

Display case of archival materials adorns with fabric appliqué pieces, arranged on a hand-hammed archival fabric table runner.

Detail view: A Call to Gay Brothers / AND TO HER WE SHALL RETURN, 2025
Two 30" x 40" hand-pulled silkscreens of archival materials from the inaugural radical faerie gathering in 1979: "A Call to Gay Brothers" flyer, and a photograph of the faeries after the inaugural mud ritual. These prints are mounted with nipple clamps over butterfly chiffon fabric hung over treated wooden branches. Part of a set of four; two more silkscreens are mounted in the same manner on the verso side of the butterfly fabric.

Far wall:

THE GREAT GARDENS OF THE FAERIES PROSPER, 2025.
Embroidered 12" x 12" vintage handkerchief, screenprinted with an archival drawing from the New York Radical Faeries Collection at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Mounted in a 12" x 12" glass shadow box with gold-plated edges.

Background:

SANCTUARY, 2025.
Film installation. Appliquéd 120" projection screen mounted with gold-plated camping clips and pink paracord, featuring SANCTUARY (2025), my collage film about the radical faeries. Beneath the projection screen is an altar with candles, glass and gold-plated candle holders, a conch shell, and two speakers wrapped in butterfly fabric.

Detail view: A Call to Gay Brothers / AND TO HER WE SHALL RETURN, 2025

Two 30" x 40" hand-pulled silkscreens, with speedball paint on canvas, of archival materials from the inaugural radical faerie gathering in 1979: a "Call to Gay Brothers" flyer, and a photograph of faeries after the inaugural mud ritual. These prints are mounted with nipple clamps over butterfly chiffon fabric hung over treated wooden branches. Part of a set of four; two more silkscreens are mounted in the same manner on the verso side of the fabric.

Partial installation view:

Display case of archival materials adorns with fabric appliqué pieces, arranged on a hand-hammed archival fabric table runner.

Series of float-mounted collages of photocopies of the archival materials in the display case.

Two 30" x 40" hand-pulled silkscreens, with speedball paint on canvas, of archival materials from the inaugural radical faerie gathering in 1979: "A Call to Gay Brothers" flyer, and a photograph of the faeries after the inaugural mud ritual. These prints are mounted with nipple clamps over butterfly chiffon fabric hung over treated wooden branches. Part of a set of four; two more silkscreens are mounted in the same manner on the other side of the butterfly fabric.

Detail from display case of archival materials from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, adorned with fabric appliqué pieces, arranged on a hand-hemmed archival fabric table.

Partial installation view:

Display case of archival materials adorns with fabric appliqué pieces, arranged on a hand-hammed archival fabric table runner.

Series of float-mounted collages of photocopies of the archival materials in the display case.

A 30" x 40" hand-pulled silkscreen, with speedball paint on canvas, of an archival photograph of the first radical faeries after the inaugural mud ritual, from the inaugural radical faerie gathering in Phoenix, AZ, in 1979. This print is mounted with nipple clamps over butterfly chiffon fabric hung over treated wooden branches. Part of a set of four; a silkscreen print of other archival materials is mounted in the same manner on the verso side of the butterfly fabric.

Left to Right:

Faerie Visions, 2025
Collage with fabric, glitter glue, colored staples, tape, heart-shaped hole punches, transparency paper featuring a reproduction of an image from the New York Radical Faeries Collection, and photocopies of ephemera from that collection. Float-mounted in a transparent, gold frame.

Controversy Before You Even Get There..., 2025
Collage with fabric, glitter glue, and photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, reworked with oil pastels. Float-mounted in a gold frame.

We Enjoy Variety, 2025
Collage with fabric, glitter-glue, heart-shaped bubble wrap, colored staples, screenprint of an image from the New York Radical Faeries Collection at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, and photographed ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives. Float-mounted in a white frame.

What Are You Dreaming? Where Should It Be?, 2025
Collage with fabric, oil pastel, safety pins, colored staples, and photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Float-mounted in a gold frame.

Faerie Visions, 2025
Collage with fabric, glitter glue, colored staples, tape, heart-shaped hole punches, transparency paper featuring a reproduction of an image from the New York Radical Faeries Collection, and photocopies of ephemera from that collection. Float-mounted in a transparent, gold frame.

Controversy Before You Even Get There..., 2025
Collage with fabric, glitter glue, and photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, reworked with oil pastels. Float-mounted in a gold frame.

What Are You Dreaming? Where Should It Be?, 2025
Collage with fabric, oil pastel, safety pins, colored staples, and photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Float-mounted in a gold frame.

Partial installation view, left to right:

Series of float-mounted collages of photocopies of the archival materials in the display case.

Display case of archival materials adorns with fabric appliqué pieces, arranged on a hand-hammed archival fabric table runner.

Halo and Seahag Dancing Around the Maypole, 2025
5' x 7' cyanotype, hand-stitching, nipple clamps. Print made with appliqués, Maypole ribbons, and the bodies of two radical faeries.

Halo and Seahag Dancing Around the Maypole, 2025
5' x 7' cyanotype, hand-stitching, nipple clamps. Print made with appliqués, Maypole ribbons, and the bodies of two radical faeries.

The Beautiful Fairy Prince Hidden Beneath, 2025

Pink silk fabric adorned with pink pegs and pink ruffle, featuring text written with acrylic paint markers.

Text says, "TEAR OFF THE UGLY GREEN FROG SKIN OF HETERO-MALE IMITATION...TO REVEAL THE BEAUTIFUL FAIRY PRINCE HIDDEN BENEATH. —HARRY HAY, 1979"

Partial installation view.

Left to right:

Float-mounted collages of fabric, appliqués, stickers, oil pastel, colored staples, photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, and photographs of various trans faeries at a radical faerie sanctuary on Beltane, 2025.

Detail view: A Call to Gay Brothers / AND TO HER WE SHALL RETURN, 2025

Two 30" x 40" hand-pulled silkscreens, with speedball paint on canvas, of archival materials from the New York Radical Faerie Collection at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. On the left is a series of song lyrics from Ye Old Faerie Hymnal. On the right is a graphic from the cover of a mid-90s New York Faeriegram mailer, featuring an alternate song lyric from one of the songs on the left.

These prints are mounted with nipple clamps over butterfly chiffon fabric hung over treated wooden branches. Part of a set of four; two more silkscreens are mounted in the same manner on the verso side of the fabric.

Halo and Seahag Dancing Around the Maypole, 2025
5' x 7' cyanotype, hand-stitching, nipple clamps. Print made with appliqués, Maypole ribbons, and the bodies of two radical faeries.

The Beautiful Fairy Prince Hidden Beneath, 2025

Pink silk fabric adorned with pink pegs and pink ruffle, featuring text written with acrylic paint markers.

Text says, "TEAR OFF THE UGLY GREEN FROG SKIN OF HETERO-MALE IMITATION...TO REVEAL THE BEAUTIFUL FAIRY PRINCE HIDDEN BENEATH. —HARRY HAY, 1979"

Detail view: A Call to Gay Brothers / AND TO HER WE SHALL RETURN, 2025

Two 30" x 40" hand-pulled silkscreens, with speedball paint on canvas, of archival materials from the New York Radical Faerie Collection at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. On the left is a series of song lyrics from Ye Old Faerie Hymnal. On the right is a graphic from the cover of a mid-90s New York Faeriegram mailer, featuring an alternate song lyric from one of the songs on the left.

These prints are mounted with nipple clamps over butterfly chiffon fabric hung over treated wooden branches. Part of a set of four; two more silkscreens are mounted in the same manner on the other side of the fabric.

Float-mounted collages of fabric, appliqués, stickers, oil pastel, colored staples, photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, and photographs of various trans faeries at a radical faerie sanctuary on Beltane, 2025.

(L): We Faerie Boys, 2025
Collage of fabric, appliqués, stickers, oil pastel, colored staples, photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, and a photograph of Halo at a radical faerie sanctuary on Beltane, 2025. Float-mounted in a gold frame. Photo by Jules.

(C): Immanent Power, 2025
Collage of fabric, rose petals, oil pastel, colored staples, photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, and a photograph of Fearless Longing at a radical faerie sanctuary on Beltane, 2025. Float-mounted in a white frame. Photo by Oracle.

(R): that i would be good (even with or without you), 2025

Collage of fabric, appliqués, stickers, oil pastel, colored staples, photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, and a photograph of Serendipity at a radical faerie sanctuary on Beltane, 2025. Float-mounted in a gold frame. Photo by Halo.

We Faerie Boys, 2025
Collage of fabric, appliqués, stickers, photocopies of ephemera from the New York Radical Faeries Collection and the Harry Hay Papers at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, and a photograph of Halo at a radical faerie sanctuary on Beltane, 2025. Float-mounted in a gold frame. Photo by Jules.

Partial installation view.

Left to right:

Halo and Seahag Dancing Around the Maypole, 2025
5' x 7' cyanotype, hand-stitching, nipple clamps. Print made with appliqués, Maypole ribbons, and the bodies of two radical faeries.

Detail view: A Call to Gay Brothers / AND TO HER WE SHALL RETURN, 2025

Two 30" x 40" hand-pulled silkscreens, with speedball paint on canvas, of archival materials from the New York Radical Faerie Collection at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. On the left is a series of song lyrics from Ye Old Faerie Hymnal. On the right is a graphic from the cover of a mid-90s New York Faeriegram mailer, featuring an alternate song lyric from one of the songs on the left.

These prints are mounted with nipple clamps over butterfly chiffon fabric hung over treated wooden branches. Part of a set of four; two more silkscreens are mounted in the same manner on the other side of the fabric.

THE GREAT GARDENS OF THE FAERIES PROSPER, 2025.
Embroidered 12" x 12" vintage handkerchief, screenprinted with an archival drawing from the New York Radical Faeries Collection at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Mounted in a 12" x 12" glass shadow box with gold-plated edges.

AND TO HER WE SHALL RETURN, 2025
Collage with fabric, appliqués, colored staples, stitching, stickers, oil pastel, and photocopies of archival materials from the New York Radical Faeries Collection at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Mounted in a 16" x 38" gold frame.

Two altars, featuring candles, tarot cards from various decks (including "The Cosmic Tribe Tarot" by Stevee Postman, featuring digitally enhanced photographs of various radical faeries and Reclaimers), Maypole ribbons, personal ephemera, oyster shells, dried flowers, crystal quartz, palo santo, a lighter, and a rosemary smudge stick. The altars are meditations on evolving love.

Coffee table with books published about, by and for the radical faeries and Harry Hay, alongside two tarot card decks and some personal ephemera.

Top row, left to right:

Radically Gay : Gay Liberation in the Words of Its Founder (1997), by Harry Hay, ed. Will Roscoe.

The Trouble with Harry Hay: Founder of the Modern Gay Movement (1990), by Stuart Timmons.

Gay Spirit: Myth and Meaning (1987), by Mark Thompson.

The Fire in the Moonlight: Stories from the Radical Faeries, 1971–2010 (2011), eds. Mark Thompson, Bo Young, and Richard Neely.

The Evans Symposium: Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture and Moon Lady Rising (2018), by Arthur Evans (covering material from 1975–1978).

Visionary Love: A Spirit Book of Gay Mythology (1980), by Mitch Walker.

Gay Liberation at a Psychological Crossroads: A Commentary on the Future of Homosexual Ideology (2009), by Mitch Walker.

Faeries: Visions, Voices & Pretty Dresses (2000), by Keri Pickett and James Broughton.

Bottom row, left to right:

Pink and gold variation on the Rider-Waite tarot deck.

The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions (1977), by Larry Mitchell and Ned Asta.

The Cosmic Slumber tarot deck, by Tilie Walden.

Partial installation view.

Left to right:

AND TO HER WE SHALL RETURN, 2025
Collage with fabric, appliqués, colored staples, stitching, stickers, oil pastel, and photocopies of archival materials from the New York Radical Faeries Collection at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Mounted in a 16" x 38" gold frame.

Two altars, featuring candles, tarot cards from various decks (including "The Cosmic Tribe Tarot" by Stevee Postman, featuring digitally enhanced photographs of various radical faeries and Reclaimers), Maypole ribbons, personal ephemera, oyster shells, dried flowers, crystal quartz, palo santo, a lighter, and a rosemary smudge stick. The altars are meditations on evolving love.

Coffee table with books published about, by and for the radical faeries and Harry Hay, alongside two tarot card decks and some personal ephemera.

SANCTUARY, 2025
Film installation. Appliquéd 120" projection screen mounted with gold-plated camping clips and pink paracord, featuring SANCTUARY (2025), my collage film about the radical faeries. Beneath the projection screen is an altar with candles, glass and gold-plated candle holders, a conch shell, and two speakers wrapped in butterfly fabric.

SANCTUARY, 2025
Film installation. Appliquéd 120" projection screen mounted with gold-plated camping clips and pink paracord, featuring SANCTUARY (2025), my collage film about the radical faeries. Beneath the projection screen is an altar with candles, glass and gold-plated candle holders, a conch shell, and two speakers wrapped in butterfly fabric.

AND TO HER WE SHALL RETURN, 2025
Collage with fabric, appliqués, colored staples, stitching, stickers, oil pastel, and photocopies of archival materials from the New York Radical Faeries Collection at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Mounted in a 16" x 38" gold frame.

Two altars, featuring candles, tarot cards from various decks (including "The Cosmic Tribe Tarot" by Stevee Postman, featuring digitally enhanced photographs of various radical faeries and Reclaimers), Maypole ribbons, personal ephemera, oyster shells, dried flowers, crystal quartz, palo santo, a lighter, and a rosemary smudge stick. The altars are meditations on evolving love.

AND TO HER WE SHALL RETURN, 2025
Collage with fabric, appliqués, colored staples, stitching, stickers, oil pastel, and photocopies of archival materials from the New York Radical Faeries Collection at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Mounted in a 16" x 38" gold frame, above a larger installation of the same name, featuring two altars.

Detail view: AND TO HER WE SHALL RETURN, 2025
Altar featuring candles, tarot cards from various decks, personal ephemera, crystal quartz, palo santo, a lighter, a rosemary smudge stick, and a tarot cloth hand-hemmed by the artist. The altar is a meditation on evolving love.

Detail view: AND TO HER WE SHALL RETURN, 2025
Altar featuring candles, tarot cards from various decks (including "The Cosmic Tribe Tarot" by Stevee Postman, featuring digitally enhanced photographs of various radical faeries and Reclaimers), Maypole ribbons, personal ephemera, oyster shells, dried flowers, crystal quartz, and a ceramic bowl made by the artist. The altar is a meditation on evolving love.

SANCTUARY, 2025
Film installation. Appliquéd 120" projection screen mounted with gold-plated camping clips and pink paracord, featuring SANCTUARY (2025), my collage film about the radical faeries. Beneath the projection screen is an altar with candles, glass and gold-plated candle holders, a conch shell, and two speakers wrapped in butterfly fabric.