Ebenezer Galluzzo
Artist Statement
Mirrors are important. We crave reflection to better understand ourselves, and know that we are seen, are real. This series of self-portraits explore how I see myself in regard to gender identity as a trans man while having outside influences reflected back to me. This is one of the reasons representation is important. Family, media, my childhood upbringing, and everyday interactions impact the way that I have looked upon my reflection. Many of these influences have brought a haze of shame, judgment, and wrongness when I see myself. They have formed my mirror. Can that mirror be reshaped? This question is the inspiration for the series: Look Upon Yourself More as God Does. Stepping away from people’s influence in how I see myself, I look to the surrounding landscape of the PNW. Through self-portraiture, I challenge cultural ideas of what is seen as real, natural, and beautiful. Using the water, plants, and earth surrounding me as a mirror I dispel the notion that my gender expression is unnatural, but rather a vital part of nature itself. Each photograph is an invitation to erode and rebuild a relationship between personal truth and self-perception. As a result, my experience of others' reactions towards me has changed. What I have been told is ugly and repulsive, which I now see as a unique, multifaceted expression that is a necessity in the ecosystem of the human environment.
Ebenezer Galluzzo | Portland, OR