Petra Stoppel ​

This work is a practice in encapsulating not only the fragility of masculinity, but also those moments when it falters, and in faltering, becomes something else, something more authentic.  While masculinity is often discussed academically as a lofty abstract concept, it permeates everyday life in a very tangible way. Thus I have painted much of it realistically in order to reflect the physical natures and fragility of it. However, the individual segments of the body, covered or not covered, come together as pieces to a puzzle, but never a whole picture of a being. These pieces play with flatness, space, and tension, putting their weight on nothing, as if held up by unrealistic expectation. This places the focus on some aspects of physicality and not on others. I found that leaving certain segments out did not take away from the concept, but rather allowed the mind to fill in the space. The focus on fabric is used to suggest the space inside, similarly to how the limbs suggest the space around the form. This suggestion of form is meant to play with the suggestion and ambiguity of masculinity. While these pieces do speak to each other, they are only the beginning of a conversation that I would like to continue to expand on in my work to come.

This series explores these concepts further by framing the subject in such a way that the image at times slips in to abstraction. Blank space and flatness plays with the depth and texture of fabric. The content of the imagery floats between these plains, just as masculinity can be seen as conceptual and yet very tangible.