Shelter Study, 2019

Performance documentation, photography

Shelter Study (2019) explores the space in which erotic parody, popular culture and the absurdity of the male body intersect. Concealed beneath dense foliage, a partially exposed figure occupies an ambiguous position between hiding and display, transforming the natural environment into a makeshift stage for an intentionally unsuccessful act of eroticism.

Drawing upon the visual language of cartoon villains, pantomime and folk erotica, the work presents a body that is neither entirely seductive nor entirely threatening. The figure's awkward positioning and improvised disguise undermine conventional representations of masculine sexuality, allowing humour and vulnerability to emerge through the failure of the performance itself.

As part of the Horny Nostalgia series, the work considers the relationship between childhood nostalgia and adult sexual identity, particularly the ways in which familiar visual conventions become unstable when removed from their original contexts. The concealed figure recalls the theatrical absurdity of popular culture's monsters and villains: characters whose exaggerated appearances promise both danger and desire but ultimately deliver neither.

Through performance and its photographic documentation, Shelter Study occupies this deliberately unresolved space between erotic spectacle and childish entertainment. It is within this contradiction, where the image can no longer sustain its intended function, that the work finds its humour and meaning.