Nonbinary Houston Artist Wyntress X’ion Shines Through Art and Advocacy

The week of July 14–20 is International Non-Binary People’s Awareness Week. To help expand that awareness, OutSmart magazine talked with local artist Wyntress X’ion who identifies as nonbinary on the gender spectrum.

X’ion, a 37-year-old Houston native, is a self-taught Black queer artist who blends vibrant visuals with advocacy. Their work spans fine art, fashion, and performance, often exploring themes of identity and healing.

Looking back to when they first realized they were non-binary, X’ion says, “Before you have words for something, I think it’s like I just knew when I was a kid. Something was different about me. But I didn’t have any representation of anybody that looked like me, until about five years ago.”

As for the awareness week, X’ion says, “Just as it is important to celebrate holidays, it is important to celebrate people, to give recognition that not only do you know individually that you exist, but that it is on a larger scale. Especially with everything that’s going on in the world now.”

X’ion says they define nonbinary as their superpower, “because I get to live at the intersections of masculine and feminine energy.  Now that I’ve gotten older, I don’t have to sit inside of a box; I am able to be fluid, owning both parts when I need to. Sometimes letting one part be at the forefront and the other energy takes a passenger seat. I can exist in this even flow.”

The most common misconception that exists about nonbinary people, X’ion says, is that others may assume they already know all there is to know about gender, and do not try to hear what the lived experience of others is.

A defining moment for X’ion came in the ninth grade. The eighth grade had been a difficult one for them and their best friend, because of perceived homosexuality. But during the summer, they decided to enter the next school year with authenticity. They shopped for clothes and got new haircuts. The night before the first day of school, they talked on the phone and said that tomorrow was going to be a special day, one that they would only be able to live once. “Twenty years later, I’m still that person,” X’ion says.

In 2022, X’ion was among the artists chosen to be the Harris County Cultural Arts Council’s inaugural resident artists. They put together “Ebony Love Letter,” an immersive exhibition consisting of 20 contemporary and abstract works in a variety of media from acrylics and oil pastels to papier-mâché and collage.

X’ion describes the show as “a love letter to Black culture, which also ultimately shows that Black history is American history.” Using vibrant colors, they paid tribute to such cultural influences as Muhammad Ali, Basquiat, Sade, Billie Holiday, and Harriet Tubman.

X’ion has also participated in numerous art efforts of the T.R.U.T.H. Project, including Joy Found Us, a celebration of joy, resilience, and authenticity.

This year, X’ion designed the Pride Month shirts for Houston Dash, the city’s women’s soccer team. Using their signature vibrant colors, the shirts centered around a theme of unity, liberation, and freedom.

“I built the design thinking of what a mural would look like in Montrose or Midtown or Third Ward. I wanted to speak to anybody from any walk of life—no matter if you identify with anybody in the community or just if you know anybody from any different walk of life. It was a fun project, and it expanded not only my creative range, but it really made me put words to what I feel.” The Dash wore the shirts last month in this year’s Pride parade.

Reflecting on the current repressive political environment, X’ion says that they lean on their community. “The community knows that you’re here, and it knows that you are in need. It helps just being around other people who are impacted. But also in the same breath, we’re holding our space.“

Keep up with Wyntress X’ion on Instagram @wyntressxion.