It\u2019s a family affair. The expectations, the obligations, the appearances, the unconditional support. In most parts of the world, the family is a sacred institution. Traditionally, to some of us, the idea of the family is a matter of unquestionable blood bonds. Biological family ties can be intrinsically hierarchical\u200a\u2014\u200aparents, children, first born. Each member shapes the life of another. The family is haunted by a myriad of cultural representations that often impose unattainable conceptions of happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to some of us, the idea of family has nothing to do with pre-assigned roles and biological ties. These are the families painted by Delvin Lugo, an artist from the Dominican Republic. His paintings, with their vibrant colours, informal settings, and often non-hierarchical compositions, look nothing like the eighteenth-century portraits that immortalized families of the Western aristocracy. Although others might mistake them for paintings of  friends having fun, to members of the LGBTQA+ community the message pierces right through the canvas\u200a\u2014\u200athese are families. Lugo knows the people he paints well, including Agatha, a trans woman and gay activist from the Bahamas who lives in the Dominican Republic. At times, Lugo himself makes cameo appearances. His are \u201cchosen families.\u201d Those of us who have been rejected by their biological families because of their sexual orientation have no option but to choose their families. Lugo recalls how he invited his friends to bring along their chosen families so that he could take some pictures, which he then transferred to paintings. Images of BIPOC groups owning their diversity as a mark of pride and distinction are seen enjoying themselves in the safe spaces that they outline for and with the rest of families. Chosen families are essential to the LGBTQA+ community: 39 percent of queer adults have faced rejection from their birth families, and 40 percent of homeless youths are LGBTQA+. Lugo\u2019s vibrant paintings legitimize chosen families, making visible and affirming their worth in the art community\u200a\u2014\u200aand, especially, in the eyes of young individuals who are attempting to find themselves in today\u2019s fragmented and polarized cultural reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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