Welcome
Watch video of recent installation
“the aesthetic, even sacred experience wars with a feeling of embarrassment and self-consciousness, and the generated images recombine withe input of viewer participation. We lose the safety of our voyeuristic critical distance, and instead become part of the peep-show as our own shadows join those of the silhouetted lovers”. - Kim De Vries
My work is an interactive investigation of the sexual aspects of our culture. My work intends to be direct, whether the result is imagery of nude bodies and sexual paraphernalia, or purely semantic in nature. I seek to generate an intelligent dialog about sex by combining interactivity, playfulness, and humor. My work intends to be more direct and contemporary than commercial erotica, but less singularly focused than pornography’s sex-objects. It’s about ephemeral sexual cultures, the private spaces around erotic activities, and how these spaces move through and change with time.
I begin my explorations as interactive animations, designed specifically for the intimate experience of online viewing. Through my work with the inter-media performance group Double Vision, I have the opportunity to re-investigate my work for shared orgiastic experiences as interactive performance installations. And, like taboo snapshots of loved ones, I create printed montages to capture the fundamental essence of the experience of the installations. This imagery is re-incorporated into the original online project, creating a complexly layered experience.
I believe our sexual culture deserves dedicated, creative exploration. Not to document the mechanics of sex, but to tease out the ways it makes our heart race, the way it makes us both embarrassed and ecstatic. Sexual expression reveals of many of our universally shared human experiences. Our imperfect and unconventional bodies are ripe with expressions of honesty, shame, desire, and humor. I use humor within my work to defray the societal tensions that often coalesce around sex.
While sexual prudishness is diminishing, our society still reflects a similar chasm, simultaneously sexually obsessed and puritanical. While I obviously believe in personal freedoms and political rights, my work seeks to be more open-ended than propaganda of sexual revolutions. I would rather track the multitude of paths our sexual taboos take; like following the half-hidden veins beneath your lover’s skin. I hope to make the most of this historical transition by creating a playground of discussion around these ironies.
- J Gomula
