Genesis of Desire

Genesis of Desire is a studio-based series that is made in response to the layered complications of privacy, secrecy, and queer desire. My previous identity as a born-again Christian has lead me to analyze my gay masculine identity and how its existence has shifted within cultural and utopian possibilities, and differing dimensions of domination and submission. By transforming the divine body into a fantastical being using readily available materials—paper, tape, wire, string, paint, vinyl—I use codified Christian symbolism to investigate the homoerotic nature of Christ’s fragmented body.

The figure is often captured in an ambiguous black-and-white space of imbalance, existing in both physical and imaginary planes. The re-inserted printed material becomes an extension and breaking apart of the body beyond its own defined parameters, transforming into a mask to emphasize what lies underneath. The series is an intimate collaboration with a close friend, who also happens to be named Paul Simon (Zivkovich), photographing his body as a surrogate for my own. The resulting dysmorphic forms become a site of transformation of the physical and psychological body, demonstrating that sculpture can be crafted in two dimensions.