Artist Sturgeon Valentine Balances Whimsy, Identity and Resistance

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Photo by Lin O'Haggerty

Sturgeon Valentine

Sturgeon Valentine painting a mural.

As a self and community-taught artist, Sturgeon Valentine likens the connectedness of the natural world with the collectivist future we want to see. Through different mediums such as zines, comics, illustrations, stickers, patches, bookmarks and apparel, Sturgeon juxtaposes whimsy and resistance, incorporating aspects of queer and trans identity as well as Irish ancestry, history and folklore into his art. He can often be found vending at community events and markets between Milwaukee and Madison.

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Photo by Sturgeon Valentine

Irish American Women In Their First Frigid Winter

'Irish American Women In Their First Frigid Winter' by Sturgeon Valentine

“I love the zine community and how DIY it is, and that it is low-cost and how people love to trade,” Sturgeon affirms. The Sexy Dyke Sandwich Zine features pictures of Sturgeon’s friends along with their favorite sandwich recipe. Other zines of his encompass urban gardening, building community and U.S. military propaganda, plus the adult-oriented Sexualize Your HRT Shots Zine and Dyke Porn Comic.

 “I like to look at trad Irish designs like manuscripts and the Book of Kells and the Book of Durrow,” Sturgeon explains. “I love mixing gay and trans with Irish stuff because it’s really cool when people do traditional artwork that showcases identity that people don’t typically think of as newfangled.”

He continues, “I’m super inspired by songs and stories that are deeply leftist and revolutionary. Even when I was a kid, I grew up listening to Irish music, and so much of it is “fuck the British” and about being resistance fighters. My art reflects me taking that in, and also my lived experience of meeting all these awesome people and organizations and art spaces that are leftist and focused on mutual aid.”

Community is Resistance

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Photo by Sturgeon Valentine

I Want More Life by Sturgeon Valentine

'I Want More Life' by Sturgeon Valentine

Sturgeon’s prints are made from linoleum and risograph. Illustrations like Community is Resistance and Loving Each Other Will Transform Us affectionately combine his mutual love for community-building and nature. Drawings like Lady of the Lake and Lesbian Vampire Sex, explore sensuality. Some feature mythological creatures or Irish imagery. “I like to learn about Irish history, especially in diaspora because it makes me feel grounded,” Sturgeon adds. “Learning about the precolonial and decolonial history, and seeing how people are putting that into praxis in the present is so cool.”

With apparel, Sturgeon screenprints scanned versions of linoleum cuts onto mostly thrifted shirts and pants. His Lesbian Boyfriend Buttonup shirt line comes in several colors and designs. Another nod to his Irish heritage, Sturgeon offers a pair of denim shorts printed with Celtic knots. His sticker and patch designs are both humorous and liberation-minded with lots of lesbian, trans and nature themes, with notable creations like the I Brake For Forklift Certified Women sticker, the poignant A Heart’s A Heavy Burden sticker illustrating a heron with a heart in its beak, and medieval woodcut-style Explicit Dyke patches.

Sturgeon offers commissions on a case-by-case basis, noting that he particularly loves designing tattoos. “It’s really exciting to design something that someone will have on their body forever. I also like to do design commissions for queer bookstores or podcasts and stuff like that. If it seems fun to me, I will absolutely do it.”

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Sturgeon first picked up drawing as a hobby in middle school. While attending college at UW-Madison, he began selling art as a side job and got involved in the Madison art scene. “I started doing it professionally because I have a lot of immunocompromised friends, and not a lot of places were safe for me to work in the early stages of Covid,” he recalls. Valentine ultimately left college to pursue art full-time. In fact, he made the Everything Matters shirt for sale in his shop immediately dropping out while pondering life's purpose.

Some of Sturgeon’s favorite events to vend at include Milwaukee Pride, Scorpio Market Madison, both Milwaukee and Madison Zine Fests and Riverwest’s Argren Faire. Earlier this year in March he co-organized with singer-songwriter Moldy Tates a benefit show at Jazz Gallery for Voces de la Frontera that raised more than $1,000 for the immigrant rights organization. He hopes to travel more for events in the future, noting, “You meet the best people at zine fests and I would love to meet zine people in other cities.”

Sturgeon Valentine’s artwork is available for sale online or locally in Milwaukee at Lion’s Tooth and MKE Liberation Center as well as A Room of One’s Own in Madison. To get in touch, visit www.sturgeonsdesigns.com or sign up for his Patreon.