From Saturday, October 18, 2025, to Saturday, January 10, 2026, the Seattle Public Library will host “Nuestra Euforia/Our Euphoria,” a showcase of curated works by local Trans and gender-nonconforming artists, and photography by local cultural bearers and icons.
The showcase will feature artist Vaquero Azul, a Dos Espíritus, Mexican, Indigenous artist of Otomí Maya and Borikén lineage, who weaves moments of “euforia” by blending Charro culture and the theatrics of Queer fantasy aesthetics, “building spaces of calm and empowerment for LGBTQ2IA+ voices” in their workshops and presentations. They believe in a world where Trans, Two-Spirit, Dos Espíritus people are celebrated, loved, and left feeling proud of who they are, expressing it in their body of art.
In anticipation of the upcoming showcase, Azul spoke to the SGN about their artwork, identity, and community.
Q: How would you describe your art to someone seeing your work for the first time?
Vaquero Azul: I would describe my work as a celebration of Trans, Dos Espíritus and Two-Spirit, gender expansive to gender euforia in Mexican and Mesoamerican joy — an intergenerational, multidimensional, Queer fusion of T4T joy. I want each artwork to radiate that we’re the main characters in our lives, with transcendent Queer love on every page! From the details in the outfits each character wears, to symbols, to Pride flags color palettes! What we wear is powerful, and by taking our rich cultural history and intertwining it together, I like to create something beautiful and full of euphoria in each piece.
Q: What would you say is the message you want other people to take away from your art?
VA: You don't have to choose. I feel like a lot of my community is living in the diaspora of being in the system of the “United States” actively harming all communities of color. Made to overwhelm, causing us to forget yourself, your cultural history, spirituality, and being in community. We're so used to having to push ourselves away from our teachings, for the conditional love from our parents and family, to be accepted. You should never have to sacrifice your cultural history just to be a part of the LGBT+ community.
I get comments of “I did not know I could embrace both sides! I feel so seen!” We hold so much religious trauma. It's so powerful to fight back from that harm and embrace ourselves fully.
We are such vibrant, joyful, and beautiful people and we deserve to see ourselves celebrated in this way with the art we surround ourselves with and the love we have to give. Surround yourself with intentional art that depicts our bodies, our culture, our history.
Q: What are your career goals?
VA: A dream came true of getting to do my first fashion “Nuestra Euforia/I Minagof-Måmi/Our Euphoria” show as a director, curator, and model. We had two amazing Chamorro, powerful people, Roldy (@Hafaroldy on Instagram) and Roquin (@Rockin_Roquin); getting to have them be included at Indigiqueer at Waterfront Park was so beautiful.
I want to keep doing more fashion shows and I've already got an idea for my next line. Currently I’ll be focusing on a LGBT+ Nichos project, to make our own personal altars/temples/places to worship at, for the Tacoma Artist Initiative Program.
Q: You’re an artist in residence at the Seattle Public Library. How did this influence your work?
VA: I’ve always dreamed of being a fashion designer, ever since watching Project Runway with my mom. My abuelita taught me how to sew and embroider as a child, and I’ve always been drawn to textiles and clothing. This residency gave me the dream of being in the big city and having my own quiet space to study, sew, breathe and realize my dreams. Getting to have a space separate from work really helped me [home] in, and having so many books to read and explore helped me find inspiration.
Q: Can you tell us about your upcoming show and presentation at the library?
VA: On Saturday, Oct. 4, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., I’ll present a program at the Central Library auditorium called “Nuestra Euforia/Our Euphoria.” I’ll share about the history of our communities, our culture, and the layers of the work I do. I want these garments that I designed during this residency at SPL to get to live a full life on stage, to be seen and celebrated with the amazing members of Danza Monarcas. It'll be a very beautiful evening of celebration and resistance of our Queer & Trans joy.
An art show called “Nuestra Euforia/Our Euphoria” will open at the Central Library in the Level 8 gallery on Oct. 18. The exhibit will feature my sewing work I made during the artist residency, artwork I’ve made over the years, a Trans Pride ofrenda to honor our Transcestors, art with local artists, photography of cultural bearers, and photographs of our LGBT+ folklórico group, Danza Monarcas.
Through the exhibit, you can get to know about our local Trans, Two-Spirit, and gender-expansive icons, because we have so many people who are doing the work that we desperately need during this time of ICE raids and anti-Trans violence. We need to celebrate our cultural bearers; their effect is powerful, and they are people who are making such a massive change in our community. They are running mutual aid funds, making free and accessible healing circles, intentional BIPOC- and LGBT-only events. Or just being the rep we need in white-dominated spaces and opening the door for more of us to take up space together.
The exhibit runs until Jan. 10, 2026. Find out more and register at this link.
Q: How can we support you and your communities?
VA: Supporting our communities in Washington state is really vital. The target on our back for our immigrant and Trans communities is massive. We desperately need people to get involved in more than just sharing posts online, and get active in your community, whether it's showing up to protests, or continuing to keep track of bills in your state (follow the Trans Bill Tracker website resource to know what anti-Trans bills are going on in your state, so you can fight against them). Follow local orgs that are helping with immigrant communities, support them by being a participant, attend their events, learn, volunteer, send money, and share their mutual aid posts. Contribute the skills you have and donate your time: maybe you have event management skills, graphic designs skills for mutual aid posts, or you’re great at numbers or at arts and crafts.
Speak our names! As a Trans and Two-Spirit artist, getting our names in spaces opens the door for us to get more opportunities so we’re not struggling financially all the time! We don’t survive the horrors in isolation — we need community.
Q: Any final thoughts you want to share about the Trans and Two-Spirit community?
VA: “Give us our flowers while we’re still here.” Our gender expansiveness has been around since time immemorial.
“Two-Spirit” as a term was proposed in 1990 during the Third Annual Intertribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference, held in Winnipeg, by Elder Myra Laramee. [It] is a translation of the Anishinaabemowin term niizh manidoowag, which actually translates to “two spirits.”
For Anishinaabemowin people, this is a traditional term. It was shared for only Indigenous communities. It was offered as a term to unite us away from offensive terminology, as a placeholder, while we work on language revitalization efforts to find the words in our specific Indigenous tribal communities. Someday, I will no longer use the term as I continue to learn and find the words from my peoples.
Honoring our past while moving forward to the future requires us to remain humble and always willing to learn from our Trancestors. We have survived so much and always will. Protest, attend community hearings, explain laws and terminology in accessible ways to your communities, and balance it with art, crafting, food exchanges, time spent outdoors, laughter, dance, and song. Our togetherness heals us, [and] sharing our own abundance, no matter how small, will ripple our change as we lead the future.
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