Divine Queerness -Tools and Forms: Methods for Healing

Divine Queerness: “Forms and Tools: Methods of Healing” is a visual investigation of the different ways queer identity shapes the healing mechanisms and processes of People from the Global Majority. 7 artists examine their own personal, ancestral and communal journey with healing through different forms and tools, rooted in radical imagination as a way of resilience and a necessary form of reclamation; overcoming all obstacles to achieve a notion of divinity.

How do we define divinity within our queerness? And how do we reclaim it when across the centuries, it has been stripped from our identity? What are the forms and tools we use to heal? How does healing serve as a radical expression of our resilience?

A visualization of one’s own journey in the labyrinths of the mind, as a method to understand and overcome trauma; The process of collaging to negotiate the violence of colonial past and the present; A retrospective of melancholia and grief, to mourn and release the present struggles of the lgbtqia+ community; The transgression of ancestral ritualistic practices, with new parameters only made possible by queerness; collaged sculptures to reclaim and celebrate the perception of the self; an afro futuristic alter ego to envision freedom; and a series of portraits, documenting and honoring the divinity of selected members of the queer community.

About The Artists

Benjamin Eichert - Growing up in an abusive, dysfunctional, and adoptive household and then being institutionalized from the ages of 13-18, where I was subjected to emotional, psychological, physical, and sexual abuse trying to figure out who I was and surviving my PTSD. It wasn’t until after a suicide attempt in 2014 that I found my true artistic calling. My art has allowed me to process my pain. Art will continue to help me speak more about how racism, dealing with sexual abuse as a male, and my recent discovery of being non-binary have impacted my life. Making art through my painful experiences has been a difficult, personal process. Through therapy and growth, I was able to loosen my grip on my art and share it with the public.

Giancarlo Montes Santangelo, a native of the DC Metropolitan area, graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2018 with a BFA in photography. He photographs and collages in an effort to map out where he comes from and where he wants to go. Collaged photographs bring together the artist’s own body and staged scenes against archival images.

Dauris Martinez is a Bronx-based artist from the Dominican Republic. He received his BFA in Photography from CUNY Lehman College in 2020. Through his work, he explores his identity using reimagined self-portraits, found objects, book clippings, and found images. His work investigates ideas of liberation, transformation, and healing. He hopes to create a conversation around queer joy and acceptance. His work has been exhibited at Bronx Art Space, Bx Arts Factory, RiverFront Art Gallery, Lycoming College Art Gallery, and a few more.

Debmalya Ray Choudhuri is an Indian artist from Kolkata based in New York City. Their practice, rooted in a diary, incorporates photography, performance, and text. It discusses confronting personal trauma and mental health and addresses contemporary societal questions on the "queerness" of identity, body, and space. The lines between the subject and the photographer are fluid in the work. These dual conversations open new perspectives on the relationship between the self and the other. This way, the author tries to understand how people express desire and love and uses these experiences with strangers and friends to question the complex notion of being queer in today's broader socio-political realm of existence.

Lola Flash - As a prominent figure in New York's downtown art scene, Flash’s artistic practice focuses on the intersection of race, sexual identity, aging, and social justice activism. They directly engage those who are often deemed invisible, as photography is an introspective assessment of their life experience. As an active member of ACT UP during the time of the AIDS epidemic in New York City, Flash was notably featured in the 1989 “Kissing Doesn’t K*ll” poster. Flash’s art and activism are profoundly connected, fueling a life-long commitment to visibility and preserving the legacy of LGBTQIA+ and communities of color worldwide.

Gabriel Garcia Roman was born in Zacatecas, Mexico, and raised in Chicago’s northwest side. He received his B.A. from The City College of New York where he studied Studio. Garcia Roman is a multi-disciplinary artist and craftsman who examines and decodes the politics of identity through intricate and process-based work. His art has been acquired by the International Center of Photography and has been shown at the Museum of Latin American Art (Long Beach, CA), the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York, NY), the Center for Photography at Woodstock (Woodstock, NY), BRIC (Brooklyn, NY), and numerous other institutions and galleries.

Amarise Carrera is a photo-based performance artist, utilizing photography for both documenting and observing while engaging in performative conversations. The results are images of quotidian moments and narratives that portal history, ancestry, altars, and still lifes that are alive. The performative aspect is referential directly to a gentle and deeply personal connection to passed down knowledge from elders and traditions from the island, Puerto Rico. Amarise received their BFA in Photography and Film from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2018. They are currently published in Aperture Magazine, Nueva Luz, and have been shown at El Museo del Barrio, Blue Sky Gallery, and will be showing at The Museum of New York

ABOUT THE CURATOR| Gabriel G. Torres is a Colombian American interdisciplinary artist and community catalyst. Gabriel’s work has been presented in NYC, Hong Kong, Colombia, and Tel Aviv. During the past years Gabriel has been working on a series of activations and projects to bring awareness about the de-stigmatization of substance abuse in the queer community, aiming at creating new pathways to envision healing communally, this work has been featured in SXSW, Latino Theater Co, The Department of Health in NYC, and more. The initiatives started with support from The Laundromat Project, Stonewall Foundation, and Loisaida INC. This year, Gabriel is excited to create space for artists and the community to be part of this conversation with a Lens-based exhibition at The Center, and Loisaida Inc, and a theater festival at The Tank NYC. To learn more visit Iamdust.org and Gabrielgtorres.com IG: Gabrielgtorrest

ABOUT EN FOCO| En Foco, Inc. is a non-profit that supports U.S.-based photographers of African, Asian, Latino, Native American, and Pacific Islander heritage. Founded in 1974, En Foco makes their work visible to the art world, yet remains accessible to under-served communities. Through exhibitions, workshops, events, and publications, it provides professional recognition, honoraria, and assistance to photographers as they grow into different stages of their careers. For more information about En Foco, visit www.enfoco.org.

ABOUT THE LGBT CENTER| Founded in 1983, at the height of the AIDS epidemic, The Center continues to address disparities faced by LGBTQ New Yorkers across multiple dimensions: health, economic opportunity, and community. Programs span the areas of health and wellness, HIV/AIDS support, youth development, immigrant support, economic justice, and career services, substance use treatment, families, health care enrollment, community building/organizing, and arts and culture. For more information please visit: www.gaycenter.org.

This exhibition is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, Ford Foundation, The Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Joy of Giving Something, Inc., and private contributions. Member of the Urban Arts Cooperative.

The Center’s arts and cultural programming is made possible with support from The Kors Le Pere Foundation.

Host or Publisher En Foco - Dedicated to Cultural Diversity in Photography