Exploring the Queer Other through a Northern Irish Lens

My research and practice explore issues and ideas surrounding queer identity,
queer masculinities and queer sexuality. The history of Northern Ireland, from
its inception to the modern era, has been one of sectarian violence and division,
which has led to other forms of discrimination here being hidden from view
(Duggan, 2017). Whilst the history of Northern Ireland and The Troubles are
not foregrounded in my artistic practice, they form an undercurrent of thought
that permeates throughout. Within Northern Ireland, there is still a queerphobic
rhetoric. Therefore, it is important to continue to sustain queer ideas, theories
and legacies through visual codes and cues. The goal of my practice is to subvert
the idea of the male gaze, put forth by Laura Mulvey in 1975 (Mulvey, 1989).
By subverting the idea of the sexualised female form through sexualising and
objectifying the male form, I aim to create a queer male gaze in which the male
figures become the object of sexual desire by another male. This is important,
especially within visual culture, as the power of representation normalises same sex desire and alternative queer lifestyles. In turn, it also creates and sustains
a queer experience between the viewer and the painting, regardless of the
viewer's gender or sexuality.