For this project, I created a series of silver gelatin fiber prints on a small scale, about 4x4" each. Each photo features a plaster mold taken from my own lips, then embedded with sharp pins. A surreal tension between lust and pain, arousal and repulsion, narcissism and self-loathing, is created by these disturbingly real pairs of spiked lips.
Artist Statement:
When self-love and self-hate become intertwined, the worlds of fantasy and reality clash in violent copulation. Eager lips filled with sharp needles of longing, inflicting red prickling pain during a passionate kiss. A ravaging kiss of one’s own parted lips. Ritualistic exchanges of flesh during a pre-apocalyptic era. Necessary escape from the madness and mundanity of the modern world. Quick! Before the fake painting falls off the wall. Before the hidden camera is revealed. Before the prudent and cruel authorities are alerted. An erogenous, anonymous touch of any kind is welcomed here, whether it brings hurt or secret gratification.
Experimenting with colored lighting and macro lens (DSLR):
