By playing with body art, gay male aesthetics and extreme physical training – from weightlifting to martial arts – the artist has adapted his own female body into a series of powerful physical shapes that challenge any notion of binary gender…
“…I wanted to draw attention to the fact that our genderqueer and trans brothers and sisters are so much more likely to experience physical violence: worldwide, transgender murders increased by 20% in 2012.”
Audiences may see Cassils’ muscle-heavy body as a way of challenging such violence, confronting bullying with strength. Through weight training, Muay Thai martial arts, traditional boxing, diet manipulation and supplements, the artist pushes the definition of a “biologically female body” to its visual extreme without taking testosterone or having surgery. Cassils is almost unfeasibly strong, almost entirely naturally…
Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.theguardian.com
#genderqueer #liberation #solidarity
