iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Are we our body? Are we wearing our body? Are we growing our body? Are we being used by our body? #fineart #contemporaryart #digitalart #newmediaart #3d

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

This piece in particular has never seen the light of day on Instagram due to content flagging, so I'm happy to share it here.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Wild Boys VIII, 2025 A tableau vivant. The Wild Boys works were inspired on the dream-like sequences of William Burroughs' book of the same name. #art #queerart #3d #blender3d #zbrush #queerartist #queer #digitalart #contempart #vr #xr #contemporaryart #surreal #digitalartist #fineart #finearts

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

So let's not pretend Suzie left because she flopped. She broke the fantasy. She refused the fiction. That's the real crime in a show built on selling palatable rebellion.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

This is not only about Suzie. It’s about how the show handles queens who bring contradiction, dissonance, or actual critique. They call it a celebration of diversity, but the second someone steps outside the box—actually outside it, not in a brandable “quirky” way—they get framed as a liability.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Max broke the format by being too composed and too conceptually rigid—gone. The Vixen named structural racism on camera—vilified. Tammie Brown broke the fourth wall and got treated like a punchline for a decade.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Not because she was the worst—plenty have done worse and been safe. But because she refused the assignment. And the show doesn’t know what to do with refusal except eliminate it. We’ve seen this before.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

The challenge wasn’t “showgirl.” The real challenge was: will you play RuPaul’s game? Will you smile at a fantasy you don’t believe in? Will you serve marketable joy on demand? Suzie didn’t. And the second she said she wasn’t excited for Vegas, the outcome was sealed.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Suzie flopped. That part isn’t up for debate. But these fans acting like that’s the full story is just #DragRace reductionism™. A queen fails a week’s challenge → queen goes home. Neat, tidy, apolitical, right? Except that’s not how this show works.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

So let's not pretend Suzie left because she flopped. She broke the fantasy. She refused the fiction. That's the real crime in a show built on selling palatable rebellion.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

RuPaul's Drag Race has shown once again with Suzie Toot's elimination that this competition is not about finding "America's Next Drag Superstar", but "World Of Wonder's Next Milkcow". A marketing challenge, really? It's as trite as when they did that TikTok challenge. Art counts for nothing.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

No accidentally searching for something and ending up somewhere totally unexpected. All rounded corners and predictability now. Thing is, it wasn't necessarily good or safe back then: but at least it was honest. And it made me, literally and figuratively speaking multilingual

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

I miss the old internet. The one from the 90s/early 2000s. It was the wild west, before they tamed it with user-friendliness. It was assymetric, messy, weird. I feel for these kids learning from conspiracy theorists from all political sides. I miss chainmails that confronted me with depraved images.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

I'm always so shy on social media to show my face lol so I'm tryna remedy that #gay #queer #gayartist #gayman #gayselfie #lgbtq #gayotter

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

My students want to make art for their 3D sculpting assignment instead of video game characters and I couldn't be more excited🥲 I'm seeing Leigh Bowery, neoclassical sculpting and Jesse Kanda as references. Let's gooooo

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

also that monologue was WILD and it's probably one of the best things I've seen on television. this season is great. don't complain that it's boring because it has the same basic buildup as the previous two seasons. y'all delusional

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

it's hilarious how people are freaking out about #thewhitelotus incest plot. I mean, the show's always been about sex and HBO's had so much incest in so many shows. people call it "unnecessary". nothing in a show is "necessary" gurl. but is it interesting? fun? yes. gimme the drama

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Always happy when I get to this class, teaching the students how to bake their sculpted details and create realistic looking skin in Substance Painter. I could paint all day. #3ddesign #substancepainter #skin

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

I can't for the love of god put furniture together without ruining it somehow. I just got my ass handed to me by a VidaXL garden bench. I don't like challenges like these lmao. Good thing I'm pretty🥲

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Ooh wow. Your familial situation sounds familiar to me. I have the best relationship with my mum too and I love my sister. My brother's also bigoted asshole... Hurts, doesn't it? Glad you have your mum that you can still count on, you deserve that kind of support👏

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

It's just borderline insane that I've experienced the same thing with three diffent organizations in a month's time. 🥴 like, please, I'm stressed out enough as it is. Am I asking too much?

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

I don't know if it's just a belgian thing or not, but why is it so difficult for so many cultural institutions to answer questions like "what are you paying me" it "when am I getting paid" or "am I getting paid at all" or "what's the job that you want me to do"

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Reposted by Michael Valdez

CALL TO ACTIVISM @calltoactivism.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

This is Marco Rubio explaining how the USA promised to defend Ukraine forever if they got rid of their nuclear arsenal left after the Soviet Union fell. This is why lil marco was sinking into the couch. He was hoping we wouldn’t find it…so don’t RT right now this very second.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Probably because advocaat seems so very archaic/banal😂 it's like... a very old person thing.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

I got a Yoshitaka Amano art book set as a birthday gift some days ago. I can't even begin to describe how much this man's art has influenced me growing up. I still study his illustrations and films on at least a weekly basis

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

It's also why I feel so resistant towards generative AI. It took me some time and effort to discover and improve my craft. It's a process that won't ever stop, which is gr8. It's a mode of thinking, philosophical even. I'd hate for myself/for the new generation to outsource something that valuable.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

What I love about working in 3D, especially sculpting, is the satisfaction of craftsmanship. I was originally educated in contemporary fine arts. It was theoretically quite sound, I graduated not knowing how to actually create something. 3D changed that. Made me appreciate the analogue arts too.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Prepping my next 3D sculpting class. Kent Trammel's Human course and Ryan Kingslien are the blueprint... Still the best online instructors out there. Curious to see how the students will receive this, since we've been working on shifting their mindset from the technical to aesthetics and anatomy.

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Might as well show my face here now that I'm seriously using this platform. #visualartist #selfie #queerartist #gay

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Reposted by Michael Valdez

mariakleopatra.bsky.social @mariakleopatra.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Very proud of the lineup Kim and I put together for our next edition of Sniffing Velvet at Snuffel (aka our favourite regular haunt). Mark the date and get ready to sniff some velvet!

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Michael Valdez @mvaldezobj.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Ah shit, didn't know Mimi passed away. Condolences♥️

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