statement

In my current body of work I explore introspective ideas of representation through the creation of personal narratives. As catalyst, I utilize my own body exclusively, engaging both epic-scale and stylistically-historic techniques. I often construct individual associations to the fantastical/mythic male identities found within the historic genres I utilize, in order to subvert their universality through a queer lens.  The repetitive application of my own image addresses the narcissism and self-awareness implicit in the homocentric gaze; as well as mortality and bodily vulnerabilities, regardless of the perceived virility of one's body.
My intention within this work is to reveal the domestic, solitary nature of queerness, elevating my lived experience to a state of grand-presentation. The spaces containing these performances, minimalistic and bordering on tableau, further reference the constructed nature of sexuality. In communicating the significance that identity is socially constructed, through the subject and objective ideas of nobility/status, mined from historic portraiture, I am interested in creating self-anxious, self-referential counter-narratives.

In 'Emperor's New Clothes', Monarch butterflies obscure my body, as they might a tree branch in Mexico's Mariposa sanctuary. The use of the Monarch for me is very specific, as they migrate yearly from south-western Canada/northern US to Mexico, many, not living long enough to finish the journey, however instinctually their offspring finish. The same phenomenon occurs returning to Canada and the US. It is this particular social behavior that for me, creates an interesting visual metaphor for collective identities.

The title alludes both, to the name of the species of butterfly the "Monarch", as well as to the famous Hans Christian Anderson story of the same name, in which an Emperor is promised a new outfit so incredible, that it can only be seen by a very select few, "those who are fit for their true station in life." This story reveals a fitting literary trope for the internalized fear of being "exposed" or othered by a group.

The butterflies act as insulators from the gaze of viewers, while simultaneously each depicted individual embodies a nakedness that contradicts the social convention of habitual categorization. 'Emperor's New Clothes' imagines personal isolation borne out of anxiety as a spectacle of metamorphic beauty.

bio

born: 1980, Saskatoon, Sk. Canada

education

University of Saskatchewan, BFA, 2005.
University of Saskatchewan, MFA, 2008.

selected awards/honors

April 2011, Research/ Creation Project Grant. Canada Council for the Arts.
June 2010, Independent Artist Grant. Saskatchewan Arts Board.
Jan. 2009, MFA-Now, International Painting Competition winner. New York, NY.
Oct. 2008, Graduate Thesis Award, Discipline of Humanities and Fine Arts, University of Saskatchewan.

selected publications

Zachari Logan: 2005 - 2011. Comprehensive catalogue. Richard Fog Publishing. Vernon, BC. Canada. (2011)
Domestic Queens Project, Exhibition Catalogue. Commentary by Mark Clintberg. Galerie FOFA, Concordia University. Montreal Que. (2011)
100 Artists Of the Male Figure. Eric Gibbons, Schiffer Publications, Atglen, PA. USA. (2010)
When I Grow Up, Exhibition catalogue. Galerie Jean Roch Dard. Paris,  France. (2009)

selected solo or two-person exhibits

'Trauma & Other Stories', Daniel Cooney Fine Art. New York, NY. (2011)
'Disappearances', Galerie Jean Roch Dard. Paris, France. (2011)
'Vignette: Androphilia Art Project #2', NAFF-Athina. elCultur Art Space. Athens, Greece. (2011)
'Beautiful Losers', Headquarters Studio, New York, NY. (2010)

selected group shows

'Domestic Queens Project', Concordia University FOFA Gallery, Curated by Evergon. Montreal, Que. Canada. (2011)
'Drawings from the Allen G Thomas Jr. Collection', Virginia Thompson Graves Gallery, Barton University. Curated by Linda Dougherty, Chief Curator of North Carolina Museum of Art. (2011)
'I See Myself In You', BRONX Art Space. Curated by Wayne Northcross. New York, NY.
When I Grow Up, (collaboration with Sophie Calle) Galerie Jean Roch Dard. Paris, France. (2009)