Out of the closet

A series of works by M Bozzec looking at the language around clothing.

Out of the closet – suited 2020 coloured pencil on paper
Out of the closet – ripped 2020 coloured pencil on paper
Out of the closet – dressed 2020 coloured pencil on paper
Out of the closet – booted 2020 coloured pencil on paper
Out of the closet – tied 2020 coloured pencil on paper

                                  OUT OF THE CLOSET

In the 2018 work Dirty Linen, the artist examined the language around clothing.

A new series, collectively titled Out Of The Closet, revisits this territory.

The way we choose to present ourselves is another form of language – we are, however unwittingly, walking billboards advertising ourselves to the rest of the world via the medium of our manner of dress.

Even if one adopts the position of not making any effort in this area, a statement is nonetheless being made.

For some, the statement is as crucial as life itself.

Being oneself can be a risk, a struggle, & a daily triumph.

Let us not overlook the power of fashion.

“I wanna look like what I am but don’t know what someone like me looks like. I mean, when people look at me I want them to think – there’s one of those people…that has their own interpretation of happiness. That’s what I am.”

Lou Sullivan –

We Both Laughed in Pleasure, The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan 1961 – 1991, Martin, E, & Ozma, Z, eds.

It is a space in which to dream, desire, play, reflect, & cross boundaries.

It is a language for the body…in which the body can rewrite itself.

It is a text of the self, for the performance of the self.

A faintly disturbing, yet alluring, sense of closeness results from the close cropping of the found, photographic images – recalling the detached intimacy of the screen.