The cover artist for the Queer issue took their name from their favorite dinosaur, the Tyrannosaurus rex.
Rex LeBeau of Newport, for as long as they can remember, loved dinosaurs. “When I was little,” they recall, “I completely covered the walls of my bedroom with dinosaur drawings. Taking them down when we moved left a lot of scotch tape marks on those walls.”
They watched TV shows and science programs about dinosaurs, along with such movies as The Land Before Time, and went to dino exhibits and museums. Subsequent to all their drawings, they soon got the nickname Rex. So it came as no surprise to anyone when they legally changed their first name to Rex, the illustrator recounts.
LeBeau created the comic strip Transosaurus Rex, which is about a genderqueer T. rex and their friend Eric, which has been running regularly in Motif after a six-year stint in Options Magazine. “It’s a continuation of the things I’ve done over the years since I figured out I was Queer,” they say, adding, “Those elements play out in the comic.”
The two characters appear on the cover holding hands; they’re buds and wearing keffiyehs as they walk toward rainbowish flowers, LeBeau explains. In the background dwell dark images of genocide, from Native America to the Holocaust to Gaza. “I wanted to riff on the idea that there’s no pride in genocide,” they say.
Above the cartoonish pair looms a night sky full of rainbow galaxies to show the beauty of the universe in contrast to all of the violence of our world.
“I did a comic for the inside of the issue as well, to expand on the cover’s theme,” they add.
It’s difficult to say when they first got interested in art, according to LeBeau. “Art is something that I always enjoyed doing. And I wanted to keep drawing when my art was considered good by other people,” they say. “It’s always felt a part of me.”
After graduating from Maine Maritime Academy, LeBeau worked for a decade mapping the ocean floor with sonar. The job was interesting, but they were laboring in a toxic workplace, and they lost their job when they came out.
Currently, LeBeau is a community health worker for East Bay Community Action Program. They provide peer navigation and basic needs to support the program’s transgender clients, among others. “The thing is to survive and thrive, and I want to help other people do the same,” they say.
In 2016, they graduated from Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education’s Natural Science Illustration certificate program after studying under local artist Amy Bartlett Wright.
For their final projects class at RISD-CE, LeBeau painted their namesake, T. rex. They used the latest in paleontological research to plan their composition, from fossilized bones in the museum to their building clay models. They brought the extinct “King Tyrant Lizard” back to life on the canvas. It’s one of their favorite artworks, they say.
Another favorite is their painting of a barred owl. “It came out really beautifully,” they comment. The owl, colored brown and white and gray, is common around the Arcadia Management Area of RI State Parks. Arcadia spans Richmond and Exeter.
“The barred owl has a distinctive hoot,” they add. “It sounds like who cooks for you.” The owl is usually spotted in the early morning.
In addition to their comic, LeBeau draws and paints the natural world, running the gamut from animals to plants to landscapes. Their artwork has been exhibited in the Newport Art Museum.
The illustrator calls themself a monstrous reader. They’re diving into books about genocide, as well as thought-provoking novels by queer science fiction writers such as Tamsyn Muir and Martha Wells. When they’re not at their drawing board, LeBeau can be seen climbing an indoor rock wall, or hiking or biking outdoors.
They conclude, “The purpose of art is to make people think, to pull them out of their comfort zone, and spark their imagination to think of a better world.”
—John Picinich
LeBeau’s artwork can be viewed at reximusmaximus.com/
