I recently visited the Mint Museum and got to see Reveal and Detonate, an exhibition on contemporary Mexican photography. My favorite works were from the series "Wild" by Juan Jose Herrera.
Lately, I've been drawn to painting myself nude and the eroticism of the painting below frightens and confuses me. I'm working with the ways patriarchy and Christianity are tangled up with how I understand, judge, and interact with my selves. Herrera's quote is a perfect articulation:
"Exposed skin is a provocation that highlights one's vulnerability before the gazes of others; undressing functions as an act of honesty that proposes a return to innocence, a rejection of conventions imposed by public standards of shame and a manifestation of the desire for true freedom."
in progress, at the studio