Description
ELSA KOSTIC
XYX-XO
50x70cm
Fine art print Photo Rag® – 308 g/m² – 100 % coton
250 €
XYX-XO is an ongoing project by @kostic_c, questioning the notion of gender and identity through transformation, approached as a dialogue with the models, to allow them to represent themselves as they wish.
« After living 6 months in Brazil in 2016 with the LGBTQIA+ community, which I had forged strong links with, it seemed obvious to me to carry out this project with them. Before living there, I didn’t realise how risky it was to propose anything outside of the cultural norms and standards in Brazil. This country has the highest transgender homicide rate, and keeps on rising since the election of Bolsonaro. You might lose your life just for being yourself. Despite this extreme violence I saw great pride in the assertion of identity within a tight-knit community in Sao Paulo – which I never saw anywhere else. This is the reason why I chose to put them in the spotlight.
Being proud and narcissistic is to dare to be oneself. Not to fall into line. All the standards that crush our freedom must then be refused. XYX-XO is a sexual chromosome I imagined. It can be endlessly reinvented. Out of all control, it allows infinite exploration of the self. » —Elsa Kostic
