dana washington-queen (they/she) is a writer, visual artist and barber whose multidisciplinary practice includes spoken word, video, photography, and multimedia installations. They explore themes of identity, spirituality and otherness with work drawing on embodiment and systems of meaning-making as sites of inquiry.

w-queen is a licensed barber and owner of Poetic Shifts, a thoughtful space for gender affirming haircuts and organic conversation. Located in Southside Richmond, Virginia, their art studio offers an alternative barbershop experience for artists, allies and queer professionals. Their upcoming research and projects will use the short story and cinema to examine the discursive histories of barbering and barbershop spaces, cultural and personal significations of hair in black and queer communities, and the movement in barber performance.

w-queen holds a Master of Fine Art in Visual Art from UC San Diego and a Bachelor of Arts in English from California State University, Long Beach. As an educator and mentor, they bring their experience and enthusiasm for experimental film, video and documentary to students of art.

Exhibition history: ICA Virginia Commonwealth University, Visible Records, Springsteen Gallery, Calit2, Jeffrey Dietch, Art + Practice, Anonymous Gallery, 98 Orchard Gallery, New Wight Gallery, San Diego Art Institute (now ICA San Diego).

Film Festivals: BlackStar Film Festival, OUTFEST Fusion LGBT People of Color Film Festival, Smithsonian African American Film Festival, Seattle Transgender Film Festival, DTLA Film Festival, Toronto Short Film Festival.

Film Programs: The Game is Not the Thing: Sport and the Moving Image at Walker Art Center (2024), Ways of Seeing: Commission at Brooklyn Academy of Music (2024),  The Afrofuture is Female at Emerson College (2020), Lafayette Anticipations x KALEIDOSCOPE at Fondation d'entreprise Galeries Lafayette (2019),  Cinematheque 108: Open Letter, Recent Work from California Filmmakers at University of Southern California (2019), Black Radical Imagination’s Fugitive Trajectories (2018), Familiar Unknown: Mysticism in the Present Future at MOCA Los Angeles (2018), Black Cinema House’s Vol. 4 (2018).

“After years of traditional classroom learning and teaching, it became imperative for me to create new ways to communicate ideas, collaborate and produce uplifting, fulfilling work. The convergence of artmaking and haircutting allows me to use process-based performance work to stay connected to my body and define meaning in my life, as well as the lives of others. This poetic shift focuses on developing practices that address your needs and affirms who you are.”