In a generation where you have the option to tick a lot more than just male or female, Colby Jones is deconstructing the modern meaning of gender with his fur-trimmed, sequin-lined photo-collages. Deeply inspired by the idea of altering appearance to fit personality, the Canadian-born artist uses the colours assigned to us at birth to question gender classification. His collection Blue is for Boyssimultaneously plays up to and subverts traditional ideologies about the meaning of virility through images of the male body on contrasting baby pink and blue backgrounds.
Creating his collages by hand, Colby masks or cuts out the faces of his subjects, segregating mental and physical identity to detach gender from appearance. “Currently we identify gender by physical attributes rather than on an individual basis,” he explains. “Identifying a person’s gender is not black and white (or pink and blue) there are a lot of shades of grey in between.” The inspiration for the project, like all of his work, stemmed from a personal experience. “I was wearing fluorescent pink socks and someone told me I was brave for wearing them,” he tells us. “I felt really annoyed with that comment and wanted to start wearing pink more often as a minute act of defiance.”
With a new wave of transgender people coming forward, Colby believes that society needs to confront the rigid labels that aren’t accommodating this, “When it comes to gender roles I think its much more complicated than how we currently perceive it. I am really inspired by anyone who challenges gender and admire the strength and courage it takes.”
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