HART editions:

Embrace Me

by LENA KUZMICH

In order to establish a society in which the marginalized can exist freely it is necessary to create a new world. It can not only be repurposed and reclaimed, but it has to be rebuilt.

In the course of accelerated reinvention and ceaseless differentiation of artistic and aesthetic discourses on the topics of body, gender and sex, fragmentation into a multitude of different parts seems to become normality. Elastic, changeable positions emerge, which can be reassembled to an infinite extent, and in respectively adapted individual interpretations become the powerful tools of each individual, who at the same time sees themselves challenged and liberated by these new possibilities of self-invention.

EMBRACE ME is a series of images that explore gender-non-conformity and queerness. It shows imaginative landscapes and hybrid representations of bodies through which stories of queer, non-binary, trans and other gender-non-conforming individuals are told. The exhibition functions as a portal to a world in which gender is not a set of rules in a power dynamic, but a free form of expression. Where the gender binary expands beyond its constricting logic and where gender gets questioned, repurposed, dismantled, reclaimed and abolished. Modern technology has made it possible to no longer define the self, concepts of gender, and personal identity exclusively in accordance with the facticity of one’s own body, but to access a variety of intuitive digital tools that potentially allow anyone to reinvent themselves.

Together with other individuals of the LGTBQIA+ community, Lena Kuzmich created a series of images that seeks to invite viewers into a world in which everyone can be who they want to be without being questioned or having to justify themselves. A world that allows space to be honest, vulnerable and reflective. Somewhere where each body can feel safe to fight existing shapes in order to find their own true form. Because being yourself is loving yourself.

ABOUT LENA:

Lena Kuzmich (1998) is a video and photography based multimedia artist from Vienna, Austria and is currently located in The Hague, Netherlands where they study photography at The Royal Academy of Art. In their work they often create imaginative worlds in order to establish a new and redefined society in which the powerdynamics of gender and sex get disolved in individualism and appreciation. Their work is an exploration beyond taboos and functions as an act of liberation from the preconceived and stigmatized notions of society about the human body, gender and sexuality. Their often visually overloaded, childish aesthetics inspired by pop- and subculture are a counterpart to the dark, psychological topics they work with.

Acknowledgements:

“The realization of this project would not have been possible without the help of others. Therefore I would like to express my special thanks and gratitude to Síofra Augusteijn, Edward Slaviero, Daniel Walton, Dimke van Harten, Miss Toto Rodgers, IFBB Pro Maria Wattel and Jocelyn Yan for collaborating with me on this project and for meeting me with trust during this process. You are fabulous! ❤ I would also like to extend my gratitude to Levi Kramer for supporting me on many ends and to the team of Improper Walls and HART Magazine.”