Manhood: The Artifice of Masculinity approaches stereotypes of masculine ideals in popular culture, specifically film and presents them as a projected image that men in contemporary society are often coerced into portraying unwittingly. This one-dimensional facet fails to recognise men as loving and caring fathers, usually portraying them as negative influences and social pariahs caught by a narrative of absenteeism.

The intention with this body of work was to reset my practice in line with a new way of working, abandoning the commercial influences to instill a more organic way of creating images that is research driven as opposed to visually driven.

The multi-media pieces, combining still imagery, video and sound, portray a male figure draped in a cloak of simulated manhood or masculinity, in the form of a still from a film. The figure appears naked to enforce the element of realism and to remove any hint that it is my ‘self’. Beneath the simulated surface is my reality. My ordinary, and the embodiment of my masculinity. It is the daily act of being a father. No glamour. No performance. It’s simply me and my children.

Contains Sound