Periwinkle Murray, 33, grew up in poverty-stricken Nassau, Bahamas, in a “complicated environment of a highly religious Third World country.” As an openly queer person, Murray experienced feeling isolated and was called a sissy and a faggot on the regular. Robbed twice at gunpoint and once with machetes, he firsthand endured a lot of hate, in an area where multiple murders of LGBTQ+ people happened and the police had no interest in solving them.

Since a young age Murray knew he would leave the island, and did so at 25. “I couldn’t take it anymore. I knew that staying would be a form of death, and with no options romantically, nor economically, as an out-queer person, my options were limited,” Murray shared.

Coming to New York, into a more diverse and accepting metropolis, he studied art history at Hunter College and worked professionally in art curation, including the well-known Basel and Frieze art fairs. After five years of managing projects and doing work behind the scenes, Murray realized he didn’t enjoy the work anymore, “the environment was toxic, competitive and fatiguing. It sucked the fun out of art.”