KIM STANLEY MEDLEN : Galerie Düsseldorf / Curtin University of Technology - Department of Art - Post Graduate Scholarship Recipient 2007

index 4 pages : 1-30 | 31-60 | 61-90 | 91-108

KIM STANLEY MEDLEN : Masquerade - John Curtin Gallery - Curtin University of Technology - 2007

View installation images : as installed - with lights up

ARTIST STATEMENT Kim Stanley Medlen is a visual artist whose jewellery-based work responds to contemporary issues that surround HIV/AIDS and gay male body image. Stigmatisation by religious, political and medical institutions has had a considerable impact on gay males with HIV/AIDS living in Australia. To avoid discrimination it has become increasingly common for these men to alter their physical appearance through body building and cosmetic surgery. This hyper-masculine masquerade gives the appearance of conforming to Western ideals of masculinity and the healthy body and therefore increases the value and social status of these men. Medlen’s visual art make use of jewellery making techniques such as piercing, dye forming and gold plating to express these ideas and to stimulate discussion and awareness of those who live on the boundaries of society.

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