Smiling Pansy 

John Paradiso

(Collage) found image from vintage gay erotica, custom chiffon pansy fabric, Martha Stewart craft paper and acrylic varnish on a wood panel in a wood floater frame

13 x 13 x 1.25 inches

2024

About John Paradiso:
In the SOFT PORN series, John stitched contour drawings of men taken from gay male pornography. Pornography, for him, has been both a sexual outlet and a place to find inspiration. As a young gay man, pornography served as his first gay sexual education. As a maturing gay man, John used embroidery as a medium that channels the stitch work he watched my grandmothers do throughout their lives. This series takes the overt sexuality of pornography and places it into the context of nostalgia, the home-sewn, and a more romantic point of view (Also includes his Leather Pansy pieces in this series).

About the Art: 
My work is an ongoing exploration of my gay male identity. It is influenced by the impact of the AIDS epidemic, internal and external homophobia, love, sexual desire, and growing old. 
My use of pansy imagery refers to its historical use as a. disparaging term for a man or boy who was considered either effeminate or homosexual. The irony is that the pansy is a very hardy flower. A term once meant to be ugly and hurtful remaining resistant and pretty.

My ultimate goal is to honor and perpetuate a Queer history that includes fighting for a place within a larger Sexual and Cultural revolution. This has led me to expand my fabric choices and
to design custom pansy fabrics. I try to represent a Queer fluid masculinity. For me, the work is a celebration of masculinity that is informed by the feminine. 

My artworks in this exhibition consist of found images from vintage gay erotica, custom chiffon pansy fabric, Martha Stewart craft paper, and acrylic varnish on wood panels, framed.