Apart (A Part)

About the Artist

Charlie Mahoney-Volk is an artist born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Treaty 1 territory, and is currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the unceded and traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Coast Salish peoples, where they are pursuing a BFA in Photography at Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Mahoney-Volk’s practice consists of photographic and print mediums that focus on queerness, personal nostalgia, and the physical deconstruction of images.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

My work Apart (A Part) was created based on the differences between caring for versus caring about a body.

As an artist living in a non-apologetically fat and queer body, people have always cared about my figure, wanting it to change or conform into what they deemed worthy. I felt a need to care for my body through the lens of a camera in this piece, not because I feel a need to prove my self-worth to viewers, but because I want to create a space of personal self-care.

Apart (A Part) explores different levels of intimacy through a starker, inaccessible, full-body portrait, and the softer, long exposure portraits that invite viewers in. While Apart (A Part) is not created to invite viewers to decide if the subject’s body is worthy or desirable, the piece is created to let viewers reconsider how they perceive fat and queer bodies.

Why do queer bodies owe you an explanation of worth? Why do fat bodies owe you proof of beauty?