Auto-Pecho i & ii (2013)
handpainted silver gelatin emsultion, digital video
Auto-Pecho i & ii (2013)
The process:
Here I painted silver-gelatin emulsion onto paper. I digitally recorded, then projected two videos of myself onto the silver gelatin: one video where I stand still and clothed, and another where I am unclothed and gestating my chest.
This bodily movement, when projected onto a surface designed to capture stillness, resists staticity and presents a blurred image. It was a gesture to temporarily erase my own chest and to embody a masculine presentation that resonated with my gender expression.
I developed the images as one would a traditional B&W photograph, though because the emulsion was hand painted, it was imperfectly coated, whereas the emulsion was layered more densely in certain areas. This thickened texture prevented the emulsion to completely fix, resulting in the browning of the images when exposed to light. This work presses against the value of photography’s grayscale standard, (Black and white binary) which has had immense effects on our abilities to literally and conceptually represent people who reside outside of binaries.
