Studio C Gallery – Los Angeles, CA – February 2018
Sexy. Am I sexy? As a women I’m supposed to be sexy. To feel sensual in my skin. To be always beautiful. To be prepared to be consumed. I don’t feel sexy. I feel strange in my body. I spent the first two hours of the show reception wandering the gallery in a coverall I fabricated out of sanitary masks. It seemed appropriate, as they are meant to both protect me from the outside as well as protect the outside from me. I shaved my head in order to neutralize identifying factors of myself, to be better presented as an object rather than a person. After creating a presence in the space, I took to the stage, installed with a chair, table, mirror, sewing materials and lots and lots of make-up. I began to fawn over myself in the mirror. Posing to feel sexy. Trying to find my good-side as they say. I applied blush to my cheeks and lipstick to the mask covering my mouth. Displeased, I started cutting myself out of the coverall, leaving the face mask. In a final gesture, I removed the face mask and smiled at my reflection.
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Kal L. Cloonan 