Nocturnes :Recent Works (2010-2013) @ Catalyst Arts [NSFW]

Nocturnes:

On occasion when explaining, or at least attempting to, the genesis for my body of work and it’s aesthetic I’ve mumbled something about being like Emily Dickenson with a camera. For over a decade I shot work and filed it away never to be seen completely by choice. I was far too focused on my career as a filmmaker and director than to shift back into my foundation level mindset as a visual artist. In the dark recesses of my brain, twitching in its neuropathways however was always the ever-growing body of work. The shutter was like a sword through a hydra’s neck. More and more it became clear to though around me that I had to show some of these works. So I slowly began to share work. Encouragement from the likes of Holly Andres and Bruce La Bruce helped certainly and I owe them both (among others) many thanks.
Mixing erotica, surrealism, and horror seemed only natural as the last great taboo in contemporary art seems to be the male nude, the once heralded subject of classical sculpture. My own aesthetic is something of a half remembered dream, evocative hopefully more than provocative. I strive to represent the forms not to shock the viewer but simply as a part of the tableaux. The aesthetic has been called “existential dread with hard-ons” and for my film work the press branded me “An Art Porn Auteur”, which while catchy is not all-encompassing. Certainly sexual expression is a part of my subject matter but I also am exploring themes of origin, personal mythology, fear, shame and the darkness we sometimes choose to ignore within ourselves. As an artist from a culturally mixed heritage (Hebrew and Inuit) storytelling is a key element to whatever project I engage in. Trying to connect the threads of disparate histories into a new narrative, however surreal it comes filtered through. The photos collected here represent fragments of stories still unfolding and hopefully will ask the viewer to fill in the gaps themselves.
Nocturnes represents a bit of cherry picking, images culled from 2010-2013 from a variety of series from my recent catalog. Some were shot in tandem with accompanying video art installations such as the images from the Transformation series as well as Veiled [which came with the creation of the film I am Not Myself Today (2010)], others were strictly photo works such as Jeremy [from the Basement Series] Mythical Beasts/Domesticated Animals began their life on off days while shooting a feature film Spark across Europe.