Dan Auluk
Growing up queer, British and Punjabi in Birmingham in the 1970s and 1980s, I often felt I was moving back and forth between different worlds. At home there was my Punjabi family and culture. Outside, I was surrounded by a different idea of what being British meant and at the same time, I was discovering my queerness and knew that this knowing of being different was something I needed to hide, to survive. After spending so much of my life feeling that parts of myself needed to be hidden, making work in response to trauma, love, intimacy, visibility and joy, through drawing, text, video, live performance art, creative writing and spoken word, feels healing for me.
My practice explores the tensions between the private and public, particularly the complexities of sharing experiences shaped by relationships with others. I am interested in what happens when intimate experiences become public, and the questions this raises about memory, vulnerability, ownership and the boundaries between self-expression and the privacy of others. Through my work, I seek to create opportunities for connection and recognition, inviting audiences to encounter experiences that may resonate with their own. I hope these encounters can help people feel less isolated, othered or marginalised.
Lived Experience
I have 25 years experience of working with and for LGBTQ+ people and communities around emotional health and wellbeing support, from 121 mentoring and wellbeing sessions, group facilitation, training and workshops to reduce isolation and loneliness; in the charity sector, NHS and Universities.
I also love cinema and talking about films - favourite genres are Sci-fi and psychological horror.
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