‘Bloke in a Dress’ is an exhibition featuring work by Out of the Blueprint’s most recent artist-in-residence, Levi J Richards.  Over the past three months, Levi has worked in the Blueprint studio on a series of riso prints, as well as screenprinting and creating a dress which was worn at Pride in Edinburgh in June this year. 

My residency work has mostly been on the theme of queerness and personal memory. 

The poster series focused on illustrations of figures from media I loved growing up that gave me a window into gender non-conformity and queer romance before I knew I needed one, from Calamity Jane to Twelfth Night, in bright, celebratory colour. 

My dress project was inspired by queer archives — a material way to preserve the mundane and ephemeral things that make up queer life and community. I digitally collaged photos, quotes, passing comments, and day-to-day objects to Gocco print onto fabric, and make into a dress to wear at Pride, perform drag in, and show off the queer community I hope I (and maybe others in future) remember.

Levi is an illustrator, poet, and zine-maker based in Edinburgh. His work is inspired by his love of classical literature and the gender-bending aesthetics of his local drag scene, in which he also performs as his drag king alter-ego, Guy Liner. With his partner August, he co-runs Door Ajar Comics, a small press which published their first graphic novel, “Crossing the Threshold: Stories of the Weird, the Queer, and the Uncanny” in 2022.