Keri (Koala) Manne: On Our Backs
This series of paintings is a look into the concept of the nonbinary identity.
Each subject in some way identifies with being nonbinary, and (not necessarily exclusively) uses they/them pronouns. It serves as a documentation and an exploration of my friends and my community, a cross-section of the nonbinary experience.
I started my process by first taking reference photos of each subject in their respective personal spaces, often their bedroom or living room. Using my family's old digital camera, I would politely ask my muses to strip down as much as they felt comfortable, and I would begin shooting. In their pitch dark room, save for a lamp here or a candle there, I'd aim my camera half-blindly to capture my subjects in unexpected poses.
Carefully picking over the photos we took, the subject and I would come to an agreement about our favorite. Once a decision had been made, the process of painting would begin.
"Nonbinary" has no aesthetic.
The most basic way everyone controls how they are perceived by others is by what they choose to wear. The nakedness of the subjects in this series strips our innate tendency to analyze how a person chooses to present themselves. Many nonbinary people choose to subvert gender stereotypes by wearing clothes that do not align with their gender assigned at birth, that look androgynous, or maybe hide or distort certain features on that person's body.
However, many people who identify as nonbinary don't do those things, or maybe express themselves in multitudes of other ways. No matter how someone chooses to dress, it doesn't determine or undermine one's own personal gender identity. Not only that, but if someone chooses to take any gender affirming care in the form of HRT or gender affirming surgeries, it also doesn't validate or invalidate someone's identity.
Queer by definition refers to:
"differing in some way from what is usual or normal." That being said, the presence of queerness (whether or not in relation to sexual orientation/ gender identity) within art has historically and continues to push boundaries. In a society that reveres individualism, yet is structured in such a way that the majority live routine, predetermined lives, non conformity of any kind within art allows people to explore individualism from afar. Oftentimes, queer art intentionally aims to confront or subvert the mechanisms of bourgeois sensibilities.
—Keri (Koala) Manne
