Metamorphosis in Queer Quarantine

Quarantine for me was and still is a metamorphosis which reveals and washes away the previous masks of my queer life. Time has lost its original value, which became fluid and a few months now seem like one and the same day, leaving the past as if it were kind of legend.
Healing, excitement, mourning, insecurity, euphoria, memories, anxiety, vision, determination and hope. All of these emotions and experiences trapped within a few square meters every day. The art process is unstable, when daily routine becomes artistic creation, and dreams mix up with the reality.
Under normal circumstances I do not mix my personal life into my work. Normally my photographs include only a name that captures the theme, the narrative line, and the symbolism within the image. Then the interpretation is on the viewer.
This series of photographs is different, although the aesthetics of my previous work is preserved, it is not as seemingly coherent.
Therefore in this case, my confession is necessary to explain to the observer what is behind the very origin of the image.  Photos are also dated to the exact day of creation as a intimate diary to the escalation during the quarantine in Madrid, Spain.

Man with a pearl (03.03. 2020)
On March 28, I had a surgery and I supposed to stay for 14 days at home for a complete recovery. I'm following the events related to coronavirus, but at that time I'm sure that the course will be similar to Sars. I feel good and I intend to take a self-portrait that resonates with my both  male and female side, self-expression through clothing and jewelry that represents my Queer lifestyle. A self-portrait with a pearl earring was created. The pearl is a symbol of perfection and incorruptibility it is a symbol of long life and fertility. The pearl is from inside of the oyster shell, therefore represents hidden knowledge, and it is highly feminine. I don't have to explain at length that my inspiration was the famous portrait of "Girl with a pearl earring" I have deliberately quoted this image in the sense of creating a missing queer history.

Cuarentona (13.03. 2020)
Almost in mid-March, I was visited by my longtime best friend, theater director Peter Butko. As the Czech Republic decided to close the border as part of an epidemic, I offered him asylum at my home in Madrid because he needed to get to Brazil. I will soon be forty years old, with Peter we discussed everything that may happen in the world, how we will be able to create, and we wanted after years to create something together again in following few weeks to come. Meanwhile, the coronavirus situation in Madrid has deteriorated significantly and the government has declared a national quarantine. Quarantine is called "cuarentena" in Spanish, also “cuarentona” is used as a slang for an older frivolous woman over fourty (cuarenta -in Spanish). The evening before Peter's last chance departure to Brazil, I hastily without any preparation improvised and created this Queer portrait inspired by painting Clotilde con mantilla negra by Joaquín Sorolla and called it Cuarentona.

Santa Corona (19.03. 2020)
The situation in Europe is serious. Spain and especially the capital Madrid became the epicenter of the Coronavirus virus infection. There is a strict curfew, thousands of people die and almost a hundred thousand are infected. On Friday night, I received a phone call that my ex partner was found dead in a Barcelona apartment. The world is suffocating with the spread of a mysterious disease and my heart is bleeding. I suffer from anxiety and depression. I discovered an article about the fact that there is a story about a woman who was tortured, murdered and later canonized as Saint Corona. The history of her legend extends to Bohemia - Czech Republic  my home country, and therefore I cope with my sadness, fear and anxiety through my own art work again, and I created this apotheosis of Santa Corona, even though I am not a Catholic. However, her character and this self-portrait is for me a symbol of what is happening and the way of dealing with my mourning.

Queer Portrait of my husband as a Frida Kahlo Tribute dedicated to Dr. Susan (28.03. 2020)
My greatest support not only in these difficult times is undoubtedly the three most important people in my life. My husband, my mother who lives 2209 km away in my hometown  České Budějovice and a lifelong friend, Dr. Zuzana, who knows me like no other in the world. Her birthday is soon and I would like to thank her for everything. However, I am isolated in an apartment in Madrid and there is no chance for me to buy and send her a gift. Zuzana loves Mexico and has been there several times. The famous painter Frida Kahlo dedicated one of her self-portraits to her doctor, who took care of her health and mental condition caused by an injury from her youth, which paralyzed her body for life and she transformed her pain into her well-known art work. Inspired by her portrait, my husband, who is Mexican American, as Frida Kahlo and dedicated it to my dear friend Zuzana.

The Magus - as Queer as a springtime ( 10.04. 2020)
My best friend Zuzana, already mentioned here,  sent me the latest translation into Czech, a book a psychomagic autobiography of my lifelong role model, artist, director, writer, mystic and psychotherapist Alejandro Jodorowsky. The book came at the right time, I really need therapy, so  reading this book will again lead me to the interpretation of tarot cards. Easter is approaching, time of traditions, celebration and customs that are deeply rooted in the Czech Republic. That is why I mix Czech traditions of coloring eggs in onion skins and I transform the Spanish traditional hat into the attribute of The  Magus who is otherwise naked as if free from earthly reality.

Yellow Quarantine (18.04.2020)  and Purple Quarantine ( 26.04.2020)
These mini series of photographs should be signed by Oscar Canedo, that is my husband, my love, my dear friend, my patient supporter, amazingly smart and beautiful person and artist as well. It was his idea, he said: Show them the routine, the daily life, the ordinary moments of our quarantine in our flat of our queer life. So here it is, I painted his face and part of his body.  Once in yellow like a sun, like a  radiant dragon of creation, manifestation of the divine order in physical reality, opening the way to immortality. And  once in purple like a prince, like a lord worshipped for his compassion, tenderness and  love.

Wheel of  fortune (28.04, 2020)
Photograph as a Tarot card interpreting the symbols and meaning through my queer aesthetic that combines different cultures and spirituality of the world, historical connotations and art.

In thoughts of Dame Edith Sitwell (30.05. 2020)
The world is far from recovering from the Coronavirus pandemic, a virus that affects the lungs. Horrifying images of the murder of George Floyd go viral on social media, capturing a reality of racism that has long existed, but can no longer be denied.The chain of events triggered by the Black Lives Matter movement brought attention the ubiquitous prevailing racism of the privileged white race. We must admit that not only Americans but Europeans as well are raised as racists.  I can never understand completely  how it is to be and live as a person of color, but I can listen to their needs, support them, give them chance for equal opportunities, educate constantly myself, help with the education of white people about anti racism and be an active allie for the community. This self portrait is an interpretation of the quote that I  changed to contemporary connotation: I am patient with ignorance, but not with those who are proud of it.

Garçon à l'éventail / Boy with a hand fan (05.06. 2020)
A diptych of photographs that symbolically closes this series. At the end of February 2020, I already had a settled date with my friend Jorge here in Madrid, for a photoshoot. I wanted to take a picture of him as a boy with a fan, a paraphrase of a painting by Pablo Picasso: Boy with a pipe. I painted a background base on the painting on an old sheet, replaced the pipe to a hand fan, which is so typical for Spain till these days, knitted a wreath of flowers and on the back of the overalls I hand embroider the quote: I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel ” Exactly on the day of the photo shoot, a state of emergency was declared, the city was closed and a curfew. So I had to cancel the photo shoot and wait. After 97 days, Madrid is in phase 1, which means that certain rules still apply, but we can finally get out and finally meet a few people. I immediately called my friend and photographed him according to the original intention. And this quote, originally: ”America, I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel  ” by Allen Ginsberg takes on unprecedented relevance especially these days in June, the month that is the international Pride of LGTBQ community, in 2020, when, based on events, it is dedicated to the rights and visibility of the community and the Black Lives Matter movement.