Juliana Huxtable’s supernatural fantastical self-portraits give little boys and girls everywhere great Halloween costume ideas, but also very real hope that they too can be accepted unapologetically for who they really are.

Huxtable has been challenging the ingrained notions of gender and smashing the patriarchy with otherworldly art since she became the new “it girl” in the New York art and club scene. Huxtable has created this edgy Sci-Fi high-drama artwork for as long as she can remember. Born to a world filled with strict Baptist ideologies in a bible-belt town in Texas, Huxtable felt much more in her element drawing pictures in her room rather than playing with the local neighborhood kids. Huxtable was brought up as a boy named Julian, but she always knew the narrow views of those who surrounded her were constricting her style and who she was destined to be. All it took was a little time in NYC and her transition into womanhood as well as her art blossomed.

In this self-portrait, Huxtable envisions herself as "cyborg, cunt, priestess, witch, Nuwaubian princess." Now that's a combo if I have ever heard one. This does bring us to an interesting side note: Huxtable’s infatuation with Nuwaubianism. Nuwaubianism is a sect of Islam that believes that black people are the descendants of lizard aliens. Some other juicy anecdotes from Nuwaubianism texts include: Caucasian women once mated with jackals to created today’s domestic dog and the Caucasian genealogy can be traced to “Flugelrods" or beings that now live in caverns beneath the Arctic. Some call it a religion; others call it a cult (perhaps because they force you to disclose your bank account info before joining). Either way, Huxtable, while not a member of Nuwaubian Nation, embraces the fantastical elements to create this otherworldly work you see before you.

This photo encourages alternative ways of understanding the fluidity of gender and sexuality. This overtly feminized photo of her intersex body is both a celebration and criticism of the pervasive and culturally limited attitudes around gender. Her art allows her to become the woman she has always wanted to be: the tantalizing center of attention yet sheathed in a fantastical allure of mystery.