The two main concepts were both based around a series of paintings, one being about mermaids and seahorses, while the other revolved around view points and mind states from within the queer community.
Why mermaids and seahorses?
Since in the beginning I was strongly considering focusing on gender bending as the only theme behind my project. The seahorse and mermaid were to be used for their peculiar physical properties and habits. With the seahorse, it is the male that carries the eggs and gives birth, while with a mermaid, it does not have a definite sex from the waist down.
The idea was to create a scenario where the seahorse and mermaid interact, an environment where androgyny and gender bending are the norm.
In order to fuel this concept, I wanted to personally meet a young MTF, but unfortunately I did not find such individual and the project was put on hold...though I still got loads of sketches that I plan to explore in the near future, sketches which I plan to blow up on canvas. By blow up I mean 3 metres by 2 metres.
Mind states
The idea of depicting mind states was a fusion of two research tools: interviews and Tumblr. With the interviews, I had selected four people between the age of 19 to 23 and discussed with them issues such as the relation with their body, the definition of queer and what it's like to be queer in Malta.
I only managed to do only one decent write-up about an interview, which can be read here.
Although I do not have an active Tumblr account, it was always intriguing to me how young people are using that platform to communicate mostly through image sharing. This heavy dependence on images to express any kind of feeling directed the graphic style that I adapted in the final works for Milkshake.
The Process
The core work was done between May-July, starting from the creation of frames, canvas stretching and priming.
The process was quite slow, for various reasons, such as travelling, other projects and general apathy. A major issue with the works was the fact that I had to keep shifting spaces in which to work, meaning that I could not set up once and blast my way through the work.
However, I ended up finishing way before scheduled, which allowed me to discuss the finished works with artists and friends alike, adjusting where necessary.
One of my works was used in a local newspaper article which introduced the project to the general public.
Setting up
So far I have met curator Lisa Gwen, and since my installation can be set up in various formats, we played around with ideas and formats in order to find what works best with the space and other's works.
Project
For more general information about the project, visit; http://milkshaketheproject.wordpress.com/
Facebook Page/Website
For updates and pictures of my works, kindly subscribe to my Facebook page.
eHopefully my website would be up and running early next week.
