Across every time and culture, people use their bodies as a canvas to express who they are. Like customizable video game avatars, people present their identity with adornment and modification; through hair style, clothing, makeup, piercing, tattoos, and surgery. Expressing oneself through their body is particularly important within marginalized communities, especially for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ people. In this way, our bodies are all artworks, a site of continuous change and creativity. 

Making Appearance presents five artists whose artwork creatively engages with personal representation, either of themselves or others within their communities. While the artists explore various identities (such as race, gender, sexuality, and class) they also expand on these categories in unique ways.

For many of these artists, custom wearable pieces are elements of their artwork. In The New Crown, Vincent Marc reimagines durags as items of glamor. Working together with fabricators and models, Marc challenges the common stereotypes associated with durags through exquisitely staged photographs. The durags aren’t limited to traditional gender norms; they incorporate lace, fringe, patterns, flowers, and jeweled elements. With their expanded range of colors, materials, and embellishments, Marc transforms durags into statement pieces that celebrate Black queer expression.

Jonah Taylor’s ceramic sculptures also deal with gender. In his sculptures, figures are fragmented, dripping, and engulfed in colorful glazes. In Drippy Ken, Jonah takes the form of the Ken doll (a quintessentially stereotypical figure of masculinity that so many children are raised with), except this Ken is covered in a thick pink liquid. In other sculptures, like Playing Dress Up (Painted Fingernails) #1-5, Jonah sculpts larger-than-life ceramic fingers with live moss growing in place of their fingernails. These pieces reflect on the traditional molds we are raised with, and what it is like to break free of those norms and explore the multitude of ways to express our identity visually. 

Sakreea Mo’nay’s work not only deals with themes of the body and its representation, but are also custom-made wearable pieces of art. Her goal is to empower and uplift people through her clothing by using bright colors and motivational messages. By wearing her clothing, she wants people to “embrace who they are, and invoke a sense of freedom.”

In her body of work entitled Timeless, Giovanna Eley draws inspiration from a breastplate worn by Zendaya on a red carpet in 2021, and charms from her late grandfather. Combining these elements through cast bronze and aluminum, Giovanna wears them in a series of photographic portraits depicting her like a religious icon or a goddess, referencing Classical Western and Renaissance art. The act of portraying oneself in this way seems empowering, and it also infuses these crafted objects with an aura of importance- like historic artifacts or religious relics. Giovanna has also posed for her work The Last Judgment, where she uses her image to explore the concepts of good and evil.

While the medium of photography allows artists to record, drawing lends itself as a method for artists to depict fantasies from their imagination. As a blue collar tradesperson, Genesis Pizarro is often surrounded by the cis hetero masc individuals who typically occupy these jobs. In their body of work Working Boys, Genesis reimagines trans individuals in these roles. Genesis’ work shows the importance that various types of clothing can play in desire; whether it is leather, western, or construction gear.

About Camden FireWorks

Camden FireWorks opened in Camden, NJ in June of 2016.  Camden FireWorks’ mission is to use art to create social change. As the only independent art gallery in Camden, New Jersey, we have featured artwork from diverse artists representing a variety of disciplines.  In addition, we offer studio rentals, art workshops, and hosts exhibitions and cultural performances in our 1889 firehouse.