Fig leafing, 2024
Baron Gallery, 2024
Fig leafing was a show that ran for two weeks at Baron Gallery in Oberlin, Ohio. The show featured work by me, Indie Caldwell, Ava Sato, Brock Bierly, Fiona Giménez-Collins, and Makayla Trentadue. I aimed to feature work in many mediums, all of which focused in some way on masculinity, intimacy, vulnerability, and friendship. Photography, videography, poetry, sculptural ice, laser cut, and drawing were the mediums I used the most. You can read more of Hayden Asiano's write up about my motifs and methods here.
The first piece created for the show originated from a project I created oriented around the eclipse that occurred over Oberlin; I had long been interested in the shape created by placing a ball of something in tights. Doing so with ice would create the perfect eclipse to project upon, leaving the silhouette of the projection on the wall while the ice slowly melted. I became obsessed with creating these objects in different spaces, installing many over the course of months in different formations, some dyed different colors. I keep looking was the simplest manifestation of this work; a plain ball of ice, about 9in by 9in, hanging precariously over a delicate, found glass vase. I struggle with my relationship to masculinity, feeling like I lack clear role models to show me how to act with warmth. The ice represented, to me, my state at the time: cold, and emotionally hard, traits often seen as positives in men. I felt (and still feel, to a degree) that my time to figure out a healthy masculinity is limited. I keep looking was an exploration of my bad habits, my jealosies, and my search for a path forward.
Chadstride // overhead costs consists of three brightly colored pieces; they are constructed of wood, clear acrylic, nuts and bolts, and inket printed 35mm photographs. I repurposed horrendously exposed film into collages, laser cut wood and acrylic, and hand-cut the images to placing them between the wood and acrylic. "Chads," a type of handsome man with a strong jawline often maligned by incels (meaning "involuntary celibates," a group of extreme misogynists), are allegedly able to do whatever they want, according to incels. The foundation of the incel belief disturbs me greatly and I think demonstrates the massive need for men who listen, learn, respect people despite their differences, and are comfortable with their emotions. Patriarchy suppresses everyone, even cisgender, straight men; as upholders of the system, men need to attempt to make genuine change. I sought to use abstract and somewhat playful shapes to reference a child's room, a longing for boyhood, a time when I understood masculinity to be harmful but not dangerous. It's gotten more confusing as I've gotten older.
Nuclear option uses the same materials and processes as Chadstride // overhead costs, although forgoing the collaged photography altogether. This creates a far colder feeling. The burned marks of the wood and the acrylic show through, a vast white space dominating which highlights the small details of construction. Six bolts hold the wood and acrylic together, providing the only break in the image. I sought to imagine the other extreme of Chadstride // overhead costs, one in which unchecked masculinity wins, leaving everything colder and barren.
49k, a drawn and screenprinted work, overlays green on green. The found guest check grounds the viewer against the abstract background. The majority of men that I know work in finance, flooding New York City every summer until they finally relocated permanently after graduating. Money is inextricably intertwined with masculinity--how much money do you need to be a worthy man? How do men quantify their worth as a person and as a partner?
Night in Babbitt [Jason] is the second of three time-based works that were shown in Fig leafing. Rather than ice, this time, light was used; cardboard was laser cut for over 15 hours, cutting thousands of holes to form the image which was originally taken on a 35mm camera. Jason is one of my best friends, and one of my closest male friends; I thought that the image of him in his room was striking and wanted to express gratitude for that friendship. The first effort went up in flames, though luckily the second survived without catching fire. The piece was hung via two wires and kept in front of a window. In the daytime, the opacity of the holes did not allow legible viewing--at night, the black enabled the viewer to decipher the image.
Similar to Night in Babbitt [Jason], Family affair is an ode to two other deeply influential figures in my life--my parents. My father, especially, taught me so much about being a man, being kind, responsible, and hardworking. My mother is all of those as well. As a first generation college student, I reflected a lot about how I found a path towards graduation. I owe my parents so much for giving me the skills and the resources to succeed and feel confident in myself. This inkjet print of a 35mm photograph taken in my father's tool truck that he works in, framed in gold to show my gratitude, is my offering to them.
Feet pics $30 (venmo me) and This one's $35 (it's better) are my response to growing calls for the removal of sexuality and kink from media. The work consists of two different digital photographs of my own feet, which I laser cut and placed in front of the backing of the frames. The image you see is created by the cut out dots, there is no ink. I don't even care that much about kink or sexual expression--by all means, I'm vanilla--but I think it's so important to see different lifestyles, sexualities, and sexual experiences in media. It's a part of life! These pieces are a direct response to my male friend saying "What, you have a foot fetish or something?" in a derogatory way. I don't, but if I did, who cares? I think it's pretty revealing that people make fun of those doing something so harmless (when consensual) instead of actual misogynists and incels. Take a wordswing at the people who are actually harming others!
Afterwards and later was a mixed media piece, and the last of the time-based media shown. A video combining bodily movement and fragments of poetry was shown on a Santex mini moniter next to a found bowl filled with large balls of ice. This was my first time creating visual representations of poetry, which has been a major force behind many of my earlier works. Words and music are such strong interacting forces for me; I need the two to make work, and the other way around, as well. It was exciting to make media work directly influenced by my writing, and this work has a direct influence upon Composite heart, a work for which I composed the soundtrack.
Thank you:
Indie Caldwell
Tyler Jester
Kristina Paabus
Pipo Nguyen-Duy
Julia Christensen
Jason Casado
Ava Sato
Brock Bierly
Mikayla Trentadue
Fiona Giménez-Collins