Custard Crematorium
by Catriona Clark
Exploring shame and sexuality, I aim to empower the viewer to see an inside perspective of a Queer woman facing her inner selves.
Being Queer, you face a complex relationship with how others see you, your identity and your most treasured relationships. What starts as external views become internalised, changing how you see yourself and your relationships.
Thankfully we live in an ever-changing world, but how do Queer people adapt from growing up in a world where you couldn’t be married, to one where you can?
Acceptance and resilience is hard, it is work, but part of this process is coming to terms with who you are. The Pride movement is a direct response to the shame queer people face, and it is an act of resistance. When the most vulnerable and fundamental parts of ourselves, how we love, is tainted with guilt, so is our sense of self. Although these views I put on myself as a child continue into my adulthood, I know I can fight them through Pride and support.
So, I did an expressive work that not only works as an object of pride but hopefully gives insight into the consequences of living in a culture that considers you unwelcome.
The different unsettling faces look down on the viewer as they pass judgment on you with disgust. They act as obstacles to authentic love and instil stigma as these heads almost guard the vortexing journey to finding your pride. Obscuring the yonic vortex of sweet and fruity delights spiralling down the rectangular pattern.