In 2021, we are presented with seemingly endless possibilities to reinvent ourselves. With one swipe, crop, or filter, we can become something new, metamorphosing multiple times a day. Gerwyn Davies (b. 1985) is an Australian photographer who explores this concept with images that both empower and conceal, combining hand-made costumes and strategic digital edits. Tessellating white folds, curved orange cones, glittering yellow ribbons and golden pyramids protrude from bodies as if they were second sets of skin. Davies expands: “The double bind of a figure both conspicuous and nowhere to be seen, hiding in plain sight, is indicative of my investment in queering the act of representation and renegotiating the terms of visibility. I adopt the excessive aesthetics of Camp, and explore the potential for performative self-presentations to become queer cocoons, inside which artists redistribute their bodies and crystallise into new formations.”
Image Credits:
1. Gerwyn Davies, Coral Sands (2020).
2. Gerwyn Davies, Caravan (2020).
3. Gerwyn Davies, Okinawa 1 (2018).
4. Gerwyn Davies, Spilt Milk (2017).
5. Gerwyn Davies, Opera (2017).
6. Gerwyn Davies, Okinawa II (2018).
