Body Doubles

As a performance artist, I am interested in the body. As a teacher, I am interested in art history. As a former Catholic, I am interested in how religious ecstasy is depicted. As a queer man, I am intrigued by the way pornography attempts to depict physical ecstasy. These photographic monoprints attempt to merge some of these concerns. By running a piece of heavy watercolor paper through an inkjet printer two (or three) times, these images represent unique "accidents" that cannot be repeated (believe me, I’ve tried). The imagery is part internet porn, part celebrity glamour, part images of Jesus or various saints, and part art historical icons. In the end, it comes down to a question of who or what do we worship? Celebrities today draw the hearts and minds of "the faithful" the way religious figures did in the past.  These mash-ups are intended to be both beautiful and disturbing, and in many cases the images reacted specifically to the paper, depending on whether the surface was smooth or rough. This sequence of 26 images was completed in 2012 & 2013.