Ms Mykie Brings Queerdos! to MATCH’s Mix-MATCH Festival

Drag performer Ms Mykie is dismantling the heteronormative ideas of beauty and sex and showcasing queer bodies at an upcoming art installation and show. 

Queerdos! is part of the 3rd Annual Mix-MATCH: A Mixed Arts Festival, a free, one-day celebration of Houston’s creative community taking place on Saturday, January 17 at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (MATCH). Ms Mykie’s event will run from 2:30 to 8 p.m., with a live performance starting at 6. 

The Mix-MATCH festival features a lineup of local performances, installations, and exhibits that showcase the depth and diversity of the city’s cultural landscape. This year’s festival is especially meaningful as MATCH celebrates ten years of creative expression, connection, and community. Since opening, MATCH has hosted thousands of performances with a core mission: making art more accessible while fostering discovery and collaboration.

The concept of Ms Mykie’s Queerdos! show falls in line with that kind of creative expression, all based on breaking down the heteronormative ideas of beauty, sex, gender, and identity. 

“I really want to express my own journey of self love by radically showing large bodies being glamorous and provocative,” they say, “all while having a laugh, being joyful and radiant, and pushing boundaries on what is sexy and who gets to be sexy!” 

Art has always been important to Ms Mykie. A Houston native from the suburbs of Spring, they grew up as a chubby, effeminate queer kid who didn’t quite fit the mold. Popularity was never guaranteed, but imagination always was. As a young “queerling,” they found refuge in drawing and sketching magical girls and comic book heroines, pouring their inner world onto paper when the outer one felt unwelcoming. 

“‘I’ve always had a strong imagination and a deep need to express myself,” they say. “As I got older, my talents became stronger and my need to make sense of the world became imperative. Art is what keeps me sane, sober, and brings me joy in all the chaos.” 

In terms of inspiration behind the art installation and drag performance, Ms Mykie says it is all an amalgamation of who they are and who they want to be. 

“It’s also a vibrant explosion of queer identity and love,” they say. “I want to explore queer bodies and the ways we make love, our kinks, our resilience. I want to show queer joy! Trauma-free exuberance that tells the story of light and laughter!” 

Visually, Queerdos! is a mixed media collection rooted primarily in acrylics, bursting with color. Ms Mykie is also introducing sculpture into the series, marking an exciting new chapter in their practice. 

“My Queerdos! represent all people, and using bright and electric colors helps to convey a world of prismatic queerness,” they say. “Queedos! will have a big nod to burlesque and drag as they are beloved by me. Feathers and sparkles! Also, a nod to queer life and how we seek and find our lovers. The joy in the cruising and the dichotomy of the fetish!”

The fusion of drag and visual art came naturally, even if it took time to fully realize, they say. 

Ms Mykie had long used friends and “magical girls” as muses, but a few years ago they began sketching costume ideas for their own drag persona. Suddenly, everything clicked. The characters grew bigger, louder, and queerer. Once paint entered the mix, it felt inevitable—like all the pieces had finally found each other.

For those who attend the Saturday show, Ms Mykie is hoping audiences find joy and laughter. “I want to inspire more people to claim their queerness and fill up space!”

As Ms Mykie sees it, queer art and media are not optional. They are survival.

“It’s our story,” they say. “So much of queer media is written for us. Not by us. They take our creativity, our bodies, our sex, then they feed it back to us. I want to reclaim the queer experience for the queer artist. Make art for us and by us!”

Launched in 2024, Mix-MATCH was created as a platform for Houston’s small to mid-sized arts organizations and independent artists to connect and share work across disciplines. Following the success of its first two festivals, this year’s event features 23 selected performances and installations chosen from over 70 submissions. Spanning theater, dance, music, film, and more, the festival fills all four MATCH theaters and the gallery, culminating in the celebratory MATCH Mixer.

What: 3rd Annual Mix-MATCH: A Mixed Arts Festival
Where: Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (MATCH), 3400 Main St.
When: Saturday, January 17, 3–10 p.m.
Info: matchouston.org/events/2026/2026-mix-match