RETURN TO: Paradise | 2015

Ezra & Cecile Zilkha Gallery, Middletown, CT

 

Embracing the utopic impulse of correspondence art and queer theory and taking cues from a deep rooted tree of gay artists, this work explores notions of Paradise within gay identities.

 

Queerness, beyond homosexuality, is a paradisiacal practice. The project of queer existence is entrenched in world making and formation. It is also reflective, attentive and hyperaware to the conditions of history and time. Internally, my work considers AIDS, its influence on identity formation, sexual liberation and politics, and its tangible impact on a gay artistic  community. Using postage imagery as a vehicle for this exploration of Paradise, this body of work aims to navigate the tension between connectivity and loss, and to highlight the power of ephemera to act as geographical and temporal connectors. 

 

Integrating elements of sculpture, performance, photography, and design into my painting practice, my work treads the line into self portraiture, reaching deep into my individual lived experience while imagining my place within a larger collective.