CHARLOTTE, N.C. — White Rabbit prides itself on being the “#1 shopping destination for the LGBT community in Charlotte.” If you’ve been to the store at 920 Central Ave. in Charlotte, you’ve seen the broad variety of art, apparel, gifts and adult toys. On Thursday, the queer shop welcomes a new type of entertainment, a pop artist known for his unique style and creative, sometimes gender-bending content.
Trevor Wayne is not only a drop-dead gorgeous gay man and model, he is also a highly successful artist. Wayne tours the nation selling and promoting his work, and will spend a few days in Charlotte concluding with a one-night only appearance at White Rabbit. There, he will sell prints and talk to the public about his work.
“I’m very excited to come and sell some prints at White Rabbit, as well as meet people,” Wayne told qnotes. “I love seeing new cities and places. Very excited to have a few days in Charlotte and check out the art as well as restaurants!”
Traveling has always been a passion of his, and his career as an actor, model and artist has afforded plenty of opportunities to explore the world. Wayne has quite a few stories to tell.
“I got to do a show in Hawaii, it got me to be one of the guest hosts of New Orleans Pride Parade,” he said. “Working on ER was my first speaking gig. Just one line, but they welcomed me like family… I’ll never forget how nervous I was to go to that set, and ended up considering it one of my favorite moments of my whole life.”
“And then there’s the Thanksgiving I spent in Clive Barker’s basement, naked with a boner, covered in fake blood for a photo shoot. So there’s that.”
Modeling adventures aside, Wayne’s artwork defies description at times. It’s colorful, unique in content (like adding bright-yellow bananas to horror-movie characters), and it has what he describes as “a kitschy sense of humor and style.” Wayne’s content is not all traditional “pop” subject matter, because he says he paints for himself more than any target audience.
“I know that I like to make it. I know that its subject matter that matters to me,” he said. “I don’t consider what anyone else wants. Otherwise its not Trevor in the painting. Everything I paint is something I would want on my wall.”
Much of Wayne’s inspiration comes from his upbringing on a blueberry farm in Michigan, where he says there was not much else to do than watch TV. Admiring the art on screen, he began drawing very early in life.
“I was very into cartoons so I started drawing them right away,” he said of his youthful work. “Cartoons are really an art form, especially comic book art. I wanted to stay with that kind of style… It’s also very heavily inspired by things that would target gay men in their mid 30’s-50’s. Because that’s me. It’s the things that inspired me as a kid.”
Though he emphasizes that he doesn’t target a particular audience, Wayne does acknowledge that his identity as a gay man has influenced what he creates.
“I have a lot of gay subject matter. Because I’m me and that’s what I like,” he said. “I love sexuality in art. I don’t separate my image from my art. I think all art is an extension of the artist. If you’re buying a painting of mine, or a nude photo, you’re buying a piece of who I am.”