LIZARD MEN

I find the lizard archetype to be a very powerful metaphor for examining a number of ideas, including the sensory, the instinctual, the alien, the terrible. Rather than just present an isolated lizard in a series of studies celebrating these phenomena, by juxtaposing a male figure next to the creature, comparison and contrast between the constructs of human and animal nature is encouraged. The series grew from a need to explore sexual psychologies and experiences within the new paradigms that social media has created for gay men.

A tentative narrative evolves from simple awareness and curiosity, through relation, engagement and ultimate assimilation. 

Although the biological concept of the “reptilian brain” is now largely discredited, it remains a potent mythology for the primitive nature within us, if “primitive” is indeed what it is. A taboo that has been created so that society can function free from bloodlust. Like many creatures from the animal kingdom, lizards are scapegoats, projections of human nature we’d rather disown. 

Screenprinting is a new skill for me. I saw it as a means to my image-making becoming more disciplined. Away from the fluid infinity of a layering drawings and textures in a digital space that then emerges seamlessly from an inkjet, to something that was broken down into clearly defined components because each had to be printed separately. Perhaps this graphic clarity was demanded because I had a story to tell.