For this project, I wanted to continue with the similar aesthetic and message of my other works regarding body image, the rituals/time we put into our appearance, and societies expectations of how we should look. I used the same pink color scheme, and fine line drawings to convey my ideas. My drawings are digitally rendered to give them a more pristine and consistent look; this is key to my piece and the series which is slowly starting to emerge from the work I am producing this year. The color scheme is important too because it is one that is typically tied to feminine bodies throughout history. I wanted to go agist this as I spoke from a queer male gaze. The color helps me bring these ideas into the piece; as this is a self-portrait, conveying the queer aspect was especially important.
The piece which I titled “Reconstructed” is printed on a 16x20 piece of paper. On top of the illustrations that are printed, lay seven pieces of plastic that are then traced upon. The tracing resembles the part of my body that I would like to change, alter, or wish that would naturally be different. These include my eyebrows, lips, jawline, nose, arms, abdomen, and legs. These plastic overlays are then taped on with pieces of pink duct tape to create a more graphic and compelling overall composition. In the piece, I made sure that the plastic was somewhat removable to let the viewers see what the body looked like in its natural form.
For this project, my research mostly connected with the ideas of the work I ended up making rather than inspiring the aesthetics. The artists I focused on included, Keith Haring, Paul Cadmus, Hal Fischer, and Yung Cheng Lin. While three of these artists are gay, all of them focus on the body in a different way. Haring focuses on the body in a more cartoon whimsical manner while still creating a sense of seriousness. Cadmus focuses on depicting gay bodies in everyday scenes. Fischer photographed the bodies of gay men who he found interesting or those that he has slept with. Lin focuses on a view of the female body, but one that is altered or disrupted by external elements.
All of these artists provided me with inspiration for my work. I think the two that are most relevant are Hal Fischer and Yung Cheng Lin. Fischer's work is eloquent in how it depicts gay men, it analyses them in a way that had not been done before. It allows the viewer into a world that is highly critical and filled with different preconceptions and misconceptions about who someone should be. This looking glass into the male queer culture in the 1980s is something that would not be possible due to the closed-off aspect to outsiders. On the more content side of my work, Yung Cheng Lin was a big influence in this project. While she is a photographer the aesthetic she uses is not only clean but overly simplifies the body. Her work also focuses on the changing of a body. This was the main theme of my project and while how I went about portraying it was different, I think that the message comes through in both.
Keith Haring, "Untitled" (self-portrait).
Paul Cadmus, "Finistère".
Yung Chen Lin, "Untitled".
Hal Fischer, "Signifier for a Males Response".
Hal Fischer, "Forties Trash"
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