We recently connected with Nykky Hex and have shared our conversation below.

Nykky, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I would say the biggest risk I have taken is deciding to be uncompromising in art and what I want to do to express it. In general being a trans artist in the scene brings it’s own expectations and stigmas when it comes to doing “drag” and presenting in a non-traditionally feminine way. When I first started coming out I felt a lot of pressure to make myself as palatable as possible while still trying to keep my own artistic integrity but then I realized just by doing that I was not holding my integrity with my art and that if people were going to like or dislike it then it would be on my terms and for me. Being labeled as an alternative drag queen you kind of have to accept that you will miss out on bookings or not be taken seriously but art, for me, is all about expressing myself in it’s most authentic way and I learned to stay true to that I had to take the risk of potentially my career.

Ultimately though, through doing that I have begun to cultivate such an amazing community of artists and people here in San Diego. People that maybe I would see at the goth club every once and a while but now we are all seeing each other at other drag shows and events and I am seeing a lot of the alternative queer community taking up more space and showing up in the scene more often and that is my passion for the impact of my art; creating community for my fellow freaks.

Nykky, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Well before I was doing drag in San Diego I was doing a lot of grassroots and nonprofit work in the psychedelic community down here which is where I really got my start in the community as well. My main focus was in plant medicine as therapy and trauma healing for the queer community. After a couple years I helped co-found The Queer Psychedelic Society and drag shows were a couple of the organizations first fundraisers.

Producing those shows was got me back in touch with drag. I started drag at 19 but ended up quitting over the pandemic but being exposed to the art form at this point in my life and being able to actively take part in the community with it, reignited my passion for the art form.

Just over a year after I started performing again I got the privilege of hosting the most recent season of viewing parties for the Boulet Brothers Dragula and it was really through having that weekly communal space for the type or art that myself my peers do that I feel solidified the wave here in San Diego of like freaks are here and we aren’t going anywhere; in fact we are going to start showing up everywhere.

Now I am throwing my own party called, COVEN, every month in Hillcrest and my real purpose with it is to provide a space for boundary pushing drag where artists can do and try things that other shows or venues don’t allow them too and to continue carving out the space(s) for alternative queers, the outcasts in the outcasts bigger and bigger.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think we need to start valuing art again in non-capital ways. Art used to be respected for what it did for the community and how it expressed the human experience and artists were celebrated and supported for their work; we used to see public art everywhere and art classes in schools and now those are few and far between.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I am very against NFTs in general. It’s not just the disrespect to artists that an NFT is but also its enviromental impact is appalling.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nykkyhex/

Image Credits

Night Channels

The Only Eyelid-Christina Liu