RECENT THESIS’

DISPLAYED IN BINGHAM GALLERY | COLUMBIA, MO

THIS BODY ACTS AS A PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF HISTORICAL HYPSERSEXUALITY WITHIN GAY CULTURE. UNDERSTANDING THE ROOTS OF THIS CONCEPT STEM LARGELY FROM MALE EMOTIONAL REPRESSION INTERTWINED WITH THE INFLUENCE OF PORNOGRAPHIC MARKETING. THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT SPANS THROUGH THE ENTIRE SPECTRUM, BUT THIS SPECIFIC WORK IS TOLD THROUGH THE LENS OF QUEERNESS. THE PREVALENCE OF THIS CONCEPT IS SUBJECTIVE, BUT MANY SEE IT AS A GROWING ENTITY WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, OR MORE IMPORTANTLY, ACKNOWLEDGE IT’S PERPETUAL EXISTENCE. THE SUPPRESSION OF SEXUAL FREEDOM WITHIN GAY MEN HAS SPANNED TIME, AND MARGINALIZATION IN ANY CONTEXT OFTEN LEADS TO HARMFUL PATTERNS. THERE IS OFTEN A SEEKING OF THIS VALIDATION AND ACCEPTANCE THROUGH SEX AND THE NEED OFTEN STEMS FROM BOTH EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL HOMOPHOBIA COUPLED WITH THE HISTORICAL OSTRACIZATION FROM SOCIETY. THE FORBIDDEN AND STILL UNLAWFUL EXISTENCE OF QUEER PEOPLE CREATED THE ENTITY OF REPRESSIVE/SUPPRESSIVE LIFESTYLES THAT PERPETUATES SECRECY AND SHAME THAT FURTHER WIDENS THIS VOID OF LOVE.

SEXUAL LIBERATION IS CELEBRATED WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, AND FREEDOM IN ALL FORMS IS THE CORE OF QUEERNESS. THROUGH THE AIDS CRISIS, WITH MANY POST-MODERN MEDIUMS LIKE HOOK UP APPS, THE INTERNET, AND THE NORMALIZATION OF CASUAL SEX, THE CULTURE HAS ARRIVED IN THIS NASCENT SPACE. ULTIMATELY, HYPERSEXUALITY WITHIN THIS COMMUNITY IS A COMPLEX PHENOMENON INFLUENCED BY A COMBINATION OF SOCIETAL, CULTURAL, RELIGIOUS  AND PERSONAL FACTORS.

WITH USE OF GREEK AND ROMAN SCULPTURE, THE TABOO IS BOTH NAVIGATED AND CHALLENGED TO QUESTION WHAT IS INHERENTLY SEXUAL AND HOW WE HAVE BEEN PROGRAMMED TO THINK. THERE IS AN ARTFULNESS TIED TO THE EROTIC, AND THERE IS A PANDERING THOUGHT BETWEEN NAKEDNESS VS THE NUDE IN THIS SPACE REMINISCENT OF A BEDROOM WALL.

WHILE A CONVERSATION, MY WORK IS SOMEWHAT OF A CRITIQUE, BUT ALSO THROUGH THE INSERTION OF MYSELF, PARTICIPATION INN TANDEM. USING MANY MEDIUMS: COLLAGE, DIGITIZED FILM, 3D ARRANGEMENTS, CURATED PRINT MEDIA, AND DIGITAL MANIPULATION, MY WORK SERVES AS AN EXPLORATION OF MASCULINITY, SEXUALITY, AND SOCIETY.