It was a hot, sweaty Saturday Talk at SOIL last week when we new members talked briefly about our work. I could be wrong, but I think SOIL might have been all hetero before this round of homos joined this year. It was nice/interesting to see common yearnings in our work. All three of the gay members present for the talk (one bear couldn’t make it) are making work about our sexual identities, histories, and relationships. And, all three of us are using somewhat abstract means to do this. Also, I think talking comfortably about these things in a gallery setting is relatively new to all of us.
Chris Buening talked about how Mad Dog is a kind of abstract “portrait” of his fifteen-year-old self drunk on a date with his much older boyfriend.
Derrick Jefferies found the body for Anatomy in cinnamon and mint chewing gum, stretched and and molded together to shape sinews and nakedness.
I’m using The Song of Songs from the Bible as a way to paint the trajectory of my love song to my wife and son.
Related: Erin Shafkind’s take on the Saturday Talk.
Interesting. Not surprisingly, my piece also explore that schism that sexuality can create between father & son. (I feel lucky to live in Seattle. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to work this stuff out in a small town in the middle of nowhere.)
joey, Yes! xo