Thinkers, 2022
I create figurative narratives that explore desire and pain in the contexts of sexuality, art history, and landscape. Combining researched subjects and fantasy with western art historical forms and motifs, my work asks viewers to consider how individuals across time have worked at once within and against larger systems of visual political power. Populating my imagery is an array of male figures and skeletons in a mesh of interface and disconnect – some at work, some aroused, others in danger, still more making mischief. In addition to addressing larger political structures, these scenes represent my own autobiography as a gay man interacting with other men and the world at large, with all the accompanying risk, transgression, and reward. - Todd Stong
