Meet Aiden Stevens

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aiden Stevens.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
As long as I can remember, I’ve always been an extremely artistic individual. I am a self-proclaimed artist and I like to advertise myself as sort of a “jack of all trades”. I have a wide variety of history in sports, music, the beauty/hair industry, performance art/drag and traditional art. But the only things that have really stuck with me would be makeup artistry and traditional art.

I attended Paul Mitchell The School for cosmetology and got my license in that. However, I stopped pursuing hair related things because it wasn’t something I was extremely passionate about. Instead, I took my knowledge for Paul Mitchell and my ability to teach myself whatever I put my mind to and learned how to do makeup. During that time, I started performing in drag where I lived under two different aliases, ‘Damien Love’ and ‘Mia Opulent Love’. I also started working for Phobia Haunted Houses around that time frame and began to teach myself Special FX makeup.

Over the years, I managed to teach myself many different mediums of art. If anything, I’ve always sought out to try new mediums just to say I’ve done it and I have some sort of experience working with it. I took minimal lessons regarding different mediums when I was younger including some classes for sculpting, painting with acrylic and just the standard art class that every kid does in middle school just so they can get the credit and move on with it. But outside of those, I’ve been able to teach myself watercolor, alcohol markers, colored pencils, gouache, oil, and I’m currently working on learning digital art.

Now, I’ve found new passions and have become ‘known’ for some of my previous passions. In 2015-2016 some of my makeup work was published with the help of a local photographer named Casey Achgill/Hidden Vanity Photography. In 2018 I was awarded and recognized as “The Best Drag Makeup Artist in Houston” the same year I actually quit drag to focus on myself and my hands-on art. I’ve taught and done makeup for a lot of drag entertainers in the greater Houston area about makeup, including the entertainers that have been previously featured in these articles (Carmina Vavra and Regina Blake-DuBois). I released a series of illustrations called “The Binded Babes” in which I drew different version of people in binders (chest compressors)/people that had gotten top surgery in order to fund my own top surgery. I’m currently looking to continue my transition-related art pieces, all while learning and teaching myself new things with and about art. I reopened my love for drag within the past two months or so after taking about a year and a half hiatus from being a performer for five years already, and have performed a few times again and I’m planning to continue.

Long story short, I’m a makeup artist, an illustrator, and sometimes a drag king all wrapped up in a tiny body!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There’s absolutely no such thing as an easy route to anything in life, unfortunately.

For a while, I put off makeup work because if I’m being honest, I feel as if my “look” and who I am is a major put off to people. The beauty industry is filled with so many different walks of life, I thought it would be easy for me to “fit in”. But there are specific places for specific people and I was made aware of that a few times. I’ve been given immediate “no”s when trying to apply places because of my “extreme” alternative look. I’ve had clients refuse to let me work for them because they didn’t want someone with green hair touching them. I’ve handed people my resume and literally been laughed in my face because a majority of my experience is self-taught and special FX work- but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m a one trick pony.

I put off drag after as a mean to figure myself out and to take a breath from working the bar scene for 5-ish years. My biggest mistake was becoming a drag queen, actually, because I forced myself to be so hyper-feminine when that wasn’t and isn’t very “me” at all. But because of drag I found my family and had a good amount of support to help begin my transition process.

A lot of my struggles have been very internal, depression, anxiety, even just living as a queer trans man. I’ve put off a lot of my art on and off for years. For a while before I came out, I would start art pieces and immediately stop them and never finish. I wasn’t too sure how to tune out my problems to do what I wanted to and what I enjoyed. After a lot of reflecting, I’ve been able to learn how to tune my feelings and thoughts into pieces. Feelings aren’t things to be ashamed about and I try to broadcast that.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
A lot of my work is based on emotion and representation. I’m a firm believer in if I want to see something done, I’m going to do it/create it.

I draw a lot of femme trans men, gay couples, drag queens, and powerful women. I draw a lot of people and things that I feel need to be represented and broadcasted.

That belief is what ultimately lead me to create my “Binded Babes” series so that anyone that does wear a binder daily or anyone with scars would feel seen and could have pieces to connect with. I’m not here to make myself or anyone else uncomfortable with the way art usually depicts our bodies.

Some of my other pieces come the darkest depths of my brain and range to happy moments I’ve experienced. I tend to fixate on random things in a moment and base pieces completely off of the emotion felt in that moment.

I specialize in illustration and makeup.

My art style is very cartoon-ish and I like to make it aware that I prefer that. I don’t work in a specific medium, either, and I try to make that as apparent as well. I do everything from canvas paintings (in oil, acrylic, and gouache) to things on paper (gouache, alcohol marker work, colored pencils, watercolor).

My makeup style ranges anywhere from drag makeup, special FX, creative work, and beauty.

But the one thing I do truly specialize in is colorwork. No matter the medium or canvas, I’m known for using bold and vibrant palettes. If it’s neon and fluorescent, I most likely own that shade or product and I’ve probably already used it on a million different pieces.

My art is very transparent to say the least. If I’m upset- you will see it. If I’ve had a wonderful time playing a new video game or watching a new show- you will see it. I aim to let other people feel involved and to let them feel that I’m around to make them feel comforted.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
As silly and ridiculous as it sounds, a lot of my success with my art has come from purely wanting to see myself and my friends represented.

A lot of my success is also because of my “family”. I put that in quotations because as someone that is queer, I was blessed to be able to choose my family- but I’m convinced they chose me for some reason. I’ve been taught new things and had help from other artists like Cian Hardin, Daisy Orellana and Bam Laurel. And just overall support, love and inspiration from people like Miranda Madole, Grant Blakely, Zoe Cassidy, Matt Spear and so many more people. But most importantly, I receive so much unconditional love and support from Regina Blake-DuBois and Carmina Vavra. They’ve both done nothing but continuously inspire me to keep striving with my art and have always supported the crazy ideas I make a reality.

I have a lot of people that give me the courage, inspiration, and motivation for what I do, and I owe them all so many thanks. If I didn’t have as much support and love as I do, I definitely wouldn’t be ‘successful’ at all.