Luke Anthony Rooney is an artist deploying collage and stitch work to interrogate the construction of queer identity by subverting and reclaiming language used to discriminate. Their practice is further informed by research into vernacular textile traditions, particularly quilting communities in Gee’s Bend, Alabama and studies into Native American textile practices. This research examines how textiles can act as forms of protest and non-verbal communication for marginalised communities, merging research with practice to explore material storytelling, memory, and collective resilience.

Luke has undertaken several research trips to the Deep South working with Gee’s Bend quiltmakers in Alabama and Mississippi as well as fieldwork in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and British Columbia. In 2024 Luke was made an official researcher of the state of Mississippi. Luke’s work was selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2023 and Barbican Artworks Prize 2025.