Alternative, Queer, and Surreal: Jason Lazarus

Jason Lazarus is a mixed-media artist from Shreveport, Louisiana. Looking for new opportunities, he recently moved to Colorado Springs. 

Dabbling in painting, writing, and fashion, Lazarus can do it all. However, he is not your typical, run-of-the-mill artist. Lazarus loves to take the ideas of drag, body horror, BDSM, and Satanism and incorporate these themes and elements into his work. No matter how morbid, uncanny, or grotesque the subject may be, Lazarus can show its glamorous side. 

OFM had the opportunity to chat more with Lazarus about his artwork, why he gravitates toward the alternative and surrealism, and his love for true crime. He runs a Facebook page to help missing and unidentified, LGBTQ people. 

Can you begin by telling us how you discovered your passion for art?
For sure. My grandma was a realism painter in her youth and heavily encouraged me from childhood. It is what I have always naturally gravitated to, especially watercolors. I am from Shreveport, LA, and when I moved to Baton Rouge a few years back, that is where I started doing it professionally. I have done art markets, galleries, and I also design logos and stuff. 

I am kind of all over the place. I pretty much paint on anything anyone will give me. I did a huge, Black Lives Matter mural in Baton Rouge before moving here, and that was a lot of fun. Also, many moons ago back in high school and college, I wrote for a couple alternative fashion, gothic-type magazines. So, I have a little bit of experience with that, too. I like doing anything artistic. 

Your art is a mix of dark, goth, and horror, but still super queer. What drew you to this aesthetic?
When I saw the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus live for my 11th birthday, and I had just learned about Miley’s breakup with Nick Jonas. I was so hurt! Just kidding [laughs]. It really kicked off in high school when I found out about bands like Depeche Mode, Alien Sex Fiend, Dead or Alive, and Jayne County, and that began to shift my world into queer mischievousness. I also grew up in love with horror movies like Return of the Living Dead and Ginger Snaps, and outrageous drag performers. 

I love Dragula, and I wish there were more of that underground, disgusting, filthy art form. I love all of it. I was not until after college, that I started bringing all these influences together into my artwork. I think someone once described it as, alternative, queer surrealism, and I kind of clinged onto that because I am influenced by surrealism and abstract. I also love taking influence from drag queens and trans people and making it horror and glam. 

What made you move out here to Colorado Springs?
I always wanted to try out Colorado and go more southwest. I have never really traveled out this far before. I have only ever really been to like, Texas, and maybe Florida once or twice. Coming out here was out of my comfort zone, but we just wanted to be more like nature people. It is so much more gorgeous out here. In Louisiana, everything kind of looks the same. We have a beautiful view of the mountains from our apartment, and that trips me up every time I see that. It is just gorgeous out here, and people seem more chill. I see more alternative types, like myself, so it has been more comforting. 

What would you like to bring to the Colorado art scene?
I really enjoyed doing the mural work before I moved, so I would like to do more community, artistic stuff. I wanted to get more involved with this community since I was so involved with Baton Rouge and New Orleans. I also kind of want to get back into writing for things. I don’t know; I want to do it all. As long as I am creating something with people like me, whether it is designing, makeup, community outreach, I love it. I want to meet more people. 

Have you had a chance to connect with the Colorado art scene since moving out here?
I have met a few incredible artists and creators online in local groups. I know it is only a taste of what Colorado has to offer. 

What do you hope people take away from your art?
That we are all dying! And life should be Satanic and glamourous. 

You also do volunteer work and run a Facebook page for missing and unidentified people. How did you get into that?
I went to college for medical, legal, death investigation because I wanted to get into forensics. As I went along with that, I realized how involved you have to be with law enforcement, and that could be a doozy. The more I went along with that, I really wanted to dive more in the artistic aspect, like forensic and crime scene sketches. I liked doing that, and when I started, I came across unidentified people. 

For some reason, those are my favorite types of cases. I am just very drawn to it. The fact that you could have a full life and do all these things, but when you die, no one knows who you are, and nothing will come up. It is very depressing and haunting. I think everyone should die with their name, even if they were a shitty person. I do it for the family and friends because there is always someone looking for them. 

I sort of dived into that, then I realized that there are so many trans and gender-nonconforming people that died, and no one gives them any attention. They think that this was just a cross-dresser, and they had it coming. That is when I decided that there really are not enough people who take enough time out of their day to help with these cases, and that is when I started researching about it and participating in forums. 

From there on, I started writing about cases and posting about them wherever I felt they were needed. Regardless of their lifestyle, we all have a name and identity. Everyone should know who you are when you die. 

And these are real cases you are writing about?
They are all active cases. I comb through a bunch of news articles and forums to gather the information. Sometimes, people will message me directly and ask if I could write something or pass a case along to get it circulating. When you notice how many Black/Brown/queer bodies are missing or unidentified and piling up, you cannot help but start writing and talking about it. 

If at least one person sees their name and reads about their circumstances, it keeps their names alive longer, and they cannot truly fade away. I write about any LGBTQ-potential/LGBTQ person I come across, but I like to put my focus on Black/Native American, trans, missing and unidentified people.

I can see how dealing with something dark like this can influence your art. It is an outlet to get all that negativity out.
Yes, it is great. That is why I love painting weird and fucked-up things. It is a lot of fun, and I have always been drawn to it. It comes natural to me. 

Who are some of your biggest influences when it comes to artists, drag performers, and musicians?
I love the Boulet Brothers, Divine; I am a sucker for John Waters. There are some alternative artists I like such as Fecal Matter, Parma Ham, and Jazmin Bean.

What more would you like to accomplish with your platform as an artist?
I want to continue using my skills for community work and encourage other Black, queer artists. Making short horror movies and creating an angry, synth-punk band are my next goals. I feel like I have a whole world undulating inside of me that is oozing at this point. I also want to get more into fashion. 

Right now, I do T-shirts and handbags, but eventually, I want to get more involved with sewing and adding modifications. I love to hand-paint shirts, but screen-printing ones with my work on them, I feel that would be killer. I want to hop on that more. I want to make harnesses and gay, cowboy-inspired outfits. Spikes and leather everywhere.

As a person of color in the alt scene, what are some of the challenges you have faced?
Tons of other alternative kids loved to give me skin-bleaching advice to “further” my appearance. Lots of people accused me of “acting white” and would try cutting my hair off. I grew up in Louisiana, so you can get a whiff of how enthralling that was.

To stay up-to-date with Lazarus, follow him on Facebook and Instagram @dungeoncowboy and TikTok @riselazarusrise. Make sure to check out his official website, dungeoncowboy.squarespace.com, and his Facebook page, Missing and Unidentified LGBT Individuals.