ABOUT THE ARTIST:

I’m Angel Correa, a visual artist originally from Colombia, working full time in my studio located in Brixton, South West London, the city I love. My current focus is an exploration centred on the human body, its frailty and the consequences of various forms of physical and mental trauma, disfigurement and disability. My present body of work thus entails an enquiry and interrogation of the universality of such matters, explored by means of abstraction of imagery of military servicemen and members of minority groups (LGBTQ+ community), and people of different racial backgrounds and ethnicities who have been disfigured and/or subjected to reconstruction and impairment from social conflict, war injuries, wounds and psychological traumas.

My intention in doing my artwork is to dedicate myself to the representation of real or imagined events, news, dreams and myths, or classical themes through different mediums. Having lived myself through the midst of decades of social conflict, violence and terrorism in which millions were violently killed, injured or simply vanished without a trace, I’m able to articulate rich personal experience within my enquiry; especially now during these times of the pandemic, when I decided to use photography as the perfect medium to capture some images through my artistic lens.

ABOUT THE PIECE:

There isn’t a person on the planet who will be able to forget 2020’s worldwide pandemic.  Each of us has been tapped on the shoulder, either directly or indirectly, by the invisible hand of Covid-19. 

My black-and-white photos are an attempt to document an instant of time and place – inevitably no more than that, when one considers the history of humankind in overall terms.

With photography and the use of an everyday smartphone, instances of deep humanity as the fear of death can be captured impromptu – the moment they reveal themselves – doing so in a manner that is uncoloured by later artistic impression, instances of bias, or the nature of the ‘brush’. 

The worldwide pandemic has heralded various new and unexpected ways-of-being, and we are witness to what amounts to a new notion of ‘normal’, vestiges of which will remain long after 2020 has been consigned to the history books.  Social distancing, empty spaces, hidden faces and a near-total absence of group interaction has become the backdrop against which we individually and collectively attempt to celebrate and embody life.

What binds us together are the various challenges and opportunities which accompany the sense of isolation; the need to constantly work hard to make sense of it all; either on your own or surrounded by collective emptiness. 

All the while, it is impossible to forget that each of us is surrounded by an invisible enemy which can launch its silent attack without battle-cry or even the dull vibration of advancing footsteps.  This is a time of uncertainty in which we are witness to the sort of fear and loss which embroiders the patchwork quilt of our shared and individual identities with coarse, thorny and jet-black twine, binding each of us together with every successive stitch.

With much love, Angel

Please note that this project includes nudity. 

Instagram: @studioangelcorreaphotos

Production photography by Tasha Best.