Painting 2016

In my work, I have been exploring narratives lost by time, in particular queer history. People often look to the past for validation, to find people who are “like them” in one way or another. When I came out as a teenager, I tried to do the same. However, when looking back, queer identities are often few and far between. When gay narratives do arise, their lives are usually unfulfilled and without much happiness. I remember feeling disheartened to see this history of disenfranchisement and hiding, which left me with little hope of happiness for myself. I hope to dispel the myth of queer as a modern category, as I believe this is a harmful notion. I have experienced the byproduct of such thinking myself, being told many times that the increasing rate of alternate sexualities is a simply byproduct of our contemporary era- that homosexuality is a modern invention.  

            Using found historical photographs, I have been reconstructing queer narratives. I tend to focus on images of intimacy and couples. In this way I hope to represent positive narratives- individuals that lead meaningful, loved lives- that have been forgotten or hidden by history. I have been exploring this loss by causing degradation to my own nostalgic images.