Paradox of the art world whose nudity is an eternal source of inspiration, while this same nudity is scandalous in the real world.
A paradox that borders on schizophrenia when we note that in the past nudes have often illustrated the fantasies of painters and their patrons, lascivious women, sculpted men bodies .
The nude has always been a way of representing ideals of beauty! Yes but ... It was also a way of placing naked people in positions of passive, fragile, opinionless art objects.
More desired than desiring...staying where and how the society want them to be.
HOW FEMINISM, SEXUALITY AND GENDER ARE PRESENTED AND EXPRESSED IN MODERN WESTERN SOCIETY?
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NuQueer Power is an embryonary response by the artist Jessica Sallay-Carrington to those questions. By displaying these figures as nude while standing tall and proud, the sculptures emphasize the strength and resilience of those apart of the LGBTQIA2+ community. |
"At a young age we are taught to be shameful of our naked bodies, and in many cases queerness is looked at as ‘different’ or not belonging. It takes courage and strength to come out to friends and family, especially for those who do not feel supported in doing so."
JESSICA FEELS IT'S IMPORTANT TO DISPLAY THESE FIGURES AS NUDE TO SHOW THAT QUEERS WILL NOT HIDE OR LET BODY SHAME OVERSHADOW THEM.
One of the series included in this exhibition is called Identities that Bind us and Set us Free, it was made in 2019 during a residency on Salt Spring Island in BC. For this series of sculptures, Jessica received nude images from models who identified as queer and non-binary, or any gender outside of the binary system.
Each of the models chose a position which they felt the most confident, and the animal which reflected themselves the best. Jessica depicted them each with two sets of arms, one set represents the gender which the public sees and assumes them to be, while the other set is for the gender which they truly are.
This project questions what we think of as a queer or gender diverse body, and points out that assumptions cannot be made simply by looking at an individual’s body.