S&M (saints & martyrs)

S&M (saints & martyrs) is a series of photographs of painting/sculptures that exist only for the lens (they are destroyed after shot). The work is genre fluid, queer in content and form.

In Rio I used to live in front of the statue of Saint Sebastian, patron saint of the city, of gay people, and oxóssi for the African-Brazilian religions. His beautiful, almost naked body - in pain and ecstasy - so Carioca, so multiple.

S&M (saints & martyrs) is an intermedia exploration of queer desire and a remix of art history. The sculptures and paintings that are the subject of these photos exist only for the lens (they are destroyed after the photo shoot). In this process, the “presentness” of sculpture is absorbed into the past tense of photography, its necromancy. The work is genre fluid, queer both in content and form.

These images investigate the psychology of the erotic surrender. The work is informed by saints in churches, which readily give their bodies to the unseen male just outside the frame (Him), with lustmord.

In this series I take into consideration that all art history survey books are books of photographs. We fell in love with photographs pretending to be paintings and sculptures. I am interested in the mediation of photography. These images slow the eye, which needs no decisive moment.