Stripped of Boundaries
Martine Gutierrez's Fluid Photos
Brooklyn-based artist Martine Gutierrez’s eclectic work mounts the world through performance, photography, and role-play. Her body of photographic work entitled “Indigenous Woman” took New York by storm this past fall, and she’s at the top of our list of up-and-coming photographers to watch.
“Society perpetuates rigid constructs—fabricated dichotomies like ‘male’ vs. ‘female’, ‘gay’ vs. ‘straight’, ‘minority’ vs. ‘white’, ‘reality’ vs. ‘fantasy’, ‘dominate’ vs. ‘submissive’, etc.,” Gutierrez says. “But our interpretation of these constructs is subjective and not immutable. Reality, like gender, is ambiguous because it exists fluidly.”
Oh so fluidly.
It’s impossible to tie her down to a particular format; saturated color and heady black-and-white come with equal ease to her, the way that air can carry any word in any language.
”I am interested in every facet of what it means to be ‘genuine’, especially when performing in a role society would never cast me in,” says Gutierrez. “I stage the scene and emote, but the viewer sees what they want to see; they can actively engage with the work or passively make assumptions. While gender is inherently a theme in my work, I don’t see it as a boundary. The only profound boundaries are those we impose upon ourselves.”
We wholeheartedly support stripping one’s world of boundaries and engaging with art that stirs you. On that note, take a look at these selected works from Gutierrez’s portfolio. See where they take you.
