Richard John Sawka II, better known as Colby Keller is an American visual artist, blogger and former pornographic film actor. His career in porn film started in 2004 at Sean Cody and subsequently expanded to include such studios as Cocksure Men, Randy Blue, Titan Men, Falcon, CockyBoys and Men.com. Keller has amassed a large fan base with both his films and his long-standing blog, The Big Shoe Diaries. He has been nominated for a number of awards, and in 2013, World of Wonder awarded him the WOWie Award for Best Blog. Keller has also appeared in the short, Zolushka, a queer retelling of Cinderella, and in the popular series Capitol Hill, both by the cult filmmaker Wes Hurley. With $45,400 that was raised in a 2014 Indiegogo campaign, Keller began shooting his own art/porn project, Colby Does America, a series of porn videos being filmed in every state across America as well as several provinces in Canada.
Biography
Born October 18, 1980, in Michigan, Colby Keller was raised in Texas where he graduated from the University of Houston with a bachelor's degree in anthropology. In addition, he is a graduate of The Maryland Institute College of Art, with a Master of Fine Arts in visual and performing arts. During his time performing in gay porn, Keller continued to work as an artist. His two most notable art projects are Pieces of Eight and Everything But Lenin, both collaborative performance pieces. Pieces of Eight involved multiple projects and multiple collaborations while Everything But Lenin involved giving away all of his earthly possessions with the exception a large metal plaque of Lenin and was precipitated by an eviction notice presented to residents of his Baltimore apartment complex in March 2014. Those who took part received a signed certificate as project participants. In addition to his porn performances and art projects, Keller appeared in a series of sex advice videos for Manhunt. The series ran from 2012 until 2014 and resulted in 62 videos. In 2012, Keller appeared in a masquerade-themed music video for the song "After Dark", by dance artists Undercover. And, in his 2013 music video for "Cannibal", Natti Vogel enlisted Keller to play a hooded witch to his tempted Hansel in a recreation of Hansel and Gretel. In 2013, Keller collaborated with artist Cameron Stalheim on a project called Myth as Object, which resulted in a 2014 exhibit as Stalheim's MFA graduating thesis at the Maryland InstituteCollege of Art. Keller's body was cast in silicone to create a thirty-foot long merman sculpture in his likeness. In 2016, Keller was presented the Cybersocket Web Award for Best Personality. He is a featured model in the 2016 Spring/Summer Vivienne WestwoodMirror the World campaign. In 2017, he appeared in two episodes of the third season of EastSiders.
Politics
Keller is a communist who credits his communist beliefs to a strict Christian upbringing with the Assemblies of God. Keller voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election, stating, "I’m going to vote for Trump! I think he’s a destabilizing force. I’m skeptical of him, too, and who exactly is behind Trump. But given that there’s eternal dissent in the Republican Party, that leads me to believe that whatever he represents might be a destabilizing force. And he’s made a lot of overtures to Russia and China, which in some ways could be thought of as an encouraging thing. I don’t support or endorse any of Trump’s policies. I just think it’ll escalate the problem, which is the best we can hope for."
