This work was displayed in Benjy Russell's solo show, You’re on new bridges made of home (you found the light in a dark poem) on Level Two: The Human Condition, presented by Wilder.

"After consistently pissing off the front porch in the same spot every morning, I started to notice a large gathering of butterflies feeding there everyday. It turns out that butterflies are attracted to the high concentration of vitamins and urea in morning piss. So for two weeks, my boyfriend Sterling and I pissed on my chainsaw every morning. Then I hung it in the woods with magicians wire and waited on the butterflies to flit into frame. This ritual was as much about my relationship as it was with producing the final image. Shortly thereafter, I asked him to marry me."

Benjy Russell grew up in rural Oklahoma, and currently resides in rural Tennessee. As a gay man in the rural South, he lives among a thriving and diverse community of queer and trans people who vision the new world together. The friendships that form this community are important not only as subject matter, but also as inspiration and source material — much of his work was created in collaboration with these artists.

Russell is compelled by the conversation that happens at the intersection of philosophy, science and art, a way to see the world prismatically and to unlearn harmful, antiquated social structures. He often looks to science fiction as a model for shaping reality, believing that by creating a fictionalized, ideal version of the future, we take the first step toward its existence.

Most of Russell’s work utilizes in-camera effects, using sculpture, studio lights and mirrors to allude to magical realism. By creating a physical moment of impossibility, he hopes to hold it up to the rest of the world and show what else might be possible.

This work was displayed in Benjy Russell's solo show, You’re on new bridges made of home (you found the light in a dark poem) on Level Two: The Human Condition, presented by Wilder.

"After consistently pissing off the front porch in the same spot every morning, I started to notice a large gathering of butterflies feeding there everyday. It turns out that butterflies are attracted to the high concentration of vitamins and urea in morning piss. So for two weeks, my boyfriend Sterling and I pissed on my chainsaw every morning. Then I hung it in the woods with magicians wire and waited on the butterflies to flit into frame. This ritual was as much about my relationship as it was with producing the final image. Shortly thereafter, I asked him to marry me."

Benjy Russell grew up in rural Oklahoma, and currently resides in rural Tennessee. As a gay man in the rural South, he lives among a thriving and diverse community of queer and trans people who vision the new world together. The friendships that form this community are important not only as subject matter, but also as inspiration and source material — much of his work was created in collaboration with these artists.

Russell is compelled by the conversation that happens at the intersection of philosophy, science and art, a way to see the world prismatically and to unlearn harmful, antiquated social structures. He often looks to science fiction as a model for shaping reality, believing that by creating a fictionalized, ideal version of the future, we take the first step toward its existence.

Most of Russell’s work utilizes in-camera effects, using sculpture, studio lights and mirrors to allude to magical realism. By creating a physical moment of impossibility, he hopes to hold it up to the rest of the world and show what else might be possible.