The STICKS paintings represent an extensive body of work centered on scenes of communal living, self-sustainability, groupthink and stories of queer radical transformation. The characters Lopes employs shift from fox to boy to girl to cat to country house through their group activities far from the mainland of society. The isolation of this self-made family brings them together in ways that are as often entertaining as they are unsettling. The narrative that runs through the STICKS paintings frequently mirrors Lopes's own life story, at least in its attempt to articulate ambiguity, placelessness, and redefinition.