I. 2011. Oil on canvas & Silk aquatint.
In 2010 I wrote the following statement:
I'm living in a very conservative society that vehemently opposes my identity. Recently I've entered into an unknown territory romantic relationships and commitment. I'm in a relationship with a women 10 years older.
My latest work is a documentation of my current life, it's about capturing moments that are brimming with personal sentiment. I ask friends to take photos of me and my girlfriend. It is difficult to act normal in front of the camera; during the shooting three things can happen: over acting, nothing or forgetting about the camera. I'm looking for the moment when the camera is forgotten, where a sense of vulnerability is apparent.
I discovered that the painting's technique, size, and the time dedicated to them are a representation of my longing to talk about my queerness. In creating situations that give me the opportunity to capture an image that deals with themes like homosexuality, commitment, sex, and other related societal issues.
I started this series as my thesis project at Altos de Chavón to start a conversation on homosexuality in a safe space. These 60x40' photorealistic oil paintings and 4x6' silk aquatint plates reference photographic dimensions. In the school context homosexuality was never the subject of discussion, neither identity. My work was consequentially banned from the thesis show at the commencement ceremony due to its 'explicit material'.
Soon after some images of the paintings where published in the Dominican Republic's capital's free news paper Diario Libre following the inauguration of the biennale of Museum of Modern art where they were first exhibited.
This body of work was then shown at Columbia University, at Parsons The New School in New York City; in a popup art gallery in harlem's historic Astor Row; in the Dominican Museum of Modern Art, and at Casa Quien art gallery in the Dominican Republic.
All of the oil paintings are currently part of the private collection of Jose Manuel Guzmán Ibarra.
