Tonight's queer artist feature is @jpjaval
Artist Statement
I grew up in the North of England in a quiet suburb of an industrial city. The sense of loneliness and isolation I felt as queer kid growing up has inspired my work greatly as a visual artist.
Cinema and ‘ old Hollywood ‘ was a refuge to me in my childhood years and my photography is often described as having a cinematic scope.
Many of my photos explore the ideas of fantasy eroticism and melancholia.
Queer icons and symbolism are something I am very much inspired by.
I did a project on St Sebastian photographed as a queer person of colour which I shot with the intention of moving away from the traditional idea of the martyr and into a more defeated but saintly Joan of Arc battle cry.
The ideas of fantasy and the surreal to the backdrop of hard political truths and adversity are something I explore in my photo series
‘ National Anthem ‘ as a reaction to the cover up of LGBTQ hate crimes in Chechnya.
The queer pornography industry of the 1970’s and 80’s is something I find really fascinating, highly stylised and visually unique to the time.
Many of my photos explore this hyper sexualised yet unapologetic era in queer history.
My work and the thought behind it is ever changing and evolving but my foundations will always be that of the human queer experience.
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