SELF-PORTRAITS IN BODY AND SOUL

This piece of work is related to the various influences which the Catholic religion has had on me ever since I was a child; more specifically, my own conflict with that age old Catholic dualism, body and soul. Catholicism's obscure denial of the body, of the various corporeal facts and needs which are so closely linked to humanity, has manifested itself in me over the years. This denial produced a culmination of needs and sensations which I often interpreted as being sinful and which I associated with a kind of tearing of my soul. This piece of work was, for me, a kind of "ultimate exorcism" which has shed light on certain thoughts I once had, and which has allowed me to find peace with my own body. Therefore, these self-portraits represent an existential anguish, a rupture with the past, and a desire to grow and expand my consciousness. They are images born of pain, of wounds which have healed, and of others which have not.

The technique used in this work can be classified as "lightpainting" (painting with light), a technique well known in advertising. With an introspective attitude, I placed my naked body against a wall and, in certain moments, realised poses which exist in Catholicism's iconic memory (such as the crucifixion, the sacred heart, or the fall to hell). My 35mm camera sat on a tripod, with the self timer on, and I played with long exposures (which ranged from 20 seconds to 1 minute), which allowed me to capture the outline of my movements while using a pair of flashlights, therefore drawing the images in the negative.

© 2001 - 2004 DANIEL MACHADO

Montevideo - Uruguay