Gabriel Boyd is a Black Queer artist based in New York. Working primarily with found materials and performance, their practice explores Black cultural signifiers, such as Black hair and hair care products, to interrogate how Black experiences interact with the virtual. Growing up amidst the capital buildings of Albany provided Gabriel with an acuity of the dissonance that exists surrounding political structures. This awareness sparked their fascination with how culture survives in spaces warped by power. They leverage skills accrued in and out of academia, such as weaving, installation, 3D modeling, and videography, to generate objects and environments that are equal parts grotesque amalgams and witty references to virtual existence. Gabriel aspires to generate community and find ways to utilize their experiences to facilitate physical empathy in digital spaces. They are invested in the tension between the tangible and the virtual, seeking to carve out spaces where bodies othered, and all the baggage they hold can be represented and felt. Their work bridges digital and physical spaces, challenging the sterility of the virtual by reimagining it as a site of haptic connection and collective intimacy, where wires and bodily material blend, becoming both conduits and containers for shared experiences.