Shaun Kardinal

Silver gelatin print. 20 x 20 inches, edition of 3.

For the invited artist series of the 2010 Seattle Erotic Art Festival.

As with the most of the other works in my ongoing series of self-portraits, this photo was taken immediately after finding solace in the mirror of my bathroom and seeing (or perhaps sensing) that all was as it should be. Knowing these moments are not mine alone, I hope to capture some semblance of them to share my experience. I hold on to the feeling as I prepare – camera, film, tripod, shutter-release cable – and continue to ponder the chain of thoughts which brought me there. In this particular instance, it was the sting of the mouthwash I had originally hoped to capture. However, as I continued through the roll, spitting and pouring anew with each advanced exposure, the pain left my mouth. Dulled there, I soon found a lingering burn in my eyes. In this final shot on the roll, I continued to pour an excess of the stringent fluid, allowed it to trickle past my jaw and onto my chest. Only then, as both the burn and relief reached different parts of my skin, did I come back to that place, where was I fully reminded that everything was ok.

This sort of moment might not immediately strike many as being erotic- but upon close inspection, the process parallels many aspects of a sexual encounter with oneself–an intriguing moment puts in motion an instinctual series of events; sometimes frustrating, other times emotional, always aiming for climax. (Hell, even afterwards there’s the cleanup and occasional remorse.) Sharing this moment can be voyeuristic, even if it is only a representation of a moment.

Special thanks to Erin for her exceptional darkroom skills on the print.

Silver gelatin print. 20 x 20 inches, edition of 3. 10 x 10 inches, edition of 3. Collaboration with Erin Frost.

Erin and I created a photo and a video for the 2010 Seattle Erotic Art Festival.

Short and sweet artist statement: Erin Frost and Shaun Kardinal share combined interests in self-portraiture, film photography, the human form, and each other. This is their first collaboration.

Visit erinfrostphotography.com for Erin’s gorgeous work.

8:15 VIdeo Loop. Collaboration with Erin Frost.

One-take infinite make-out, created for the 2010 Seattle Erotic Art Festival.

Filmed through the viewfinder of Erin’s Hasselblad, we traded control of the shutter-release button. We loved how the released shutter masked the view, in direct opposition to the reveal it provides against film. While there were flaws in the first take–the camera shifts, the light changes drastically–we felt that the first take captured everything we’d hoped for, and more; these flaws were really just part of the whole and we welcomed them.

Displayed on a made-in-’85 motel TV, our video looped continuously throughout the festival.

Visit erinfrostphotography.com for more work by Erin.

Graphite, cut paper, cut and sewn record sleeves. 16 x 22 inches. Collaboration with Joey Bates.

Joey asked a few artists to create the clothes for five of his portraits.

After finishing my collaboration with Troy Gua, I’d been keen to make some larger collage work. Challenged with only a few days to complete my task, I cut up several old record sleeves (Tabu [III] by Santana and Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones) and set to work. The collaborative series was included in his March 2010 show at Some Space.

Visit joeybates.com for more from Joey.

View work details »

Underexposed photographs from youth, thread and resin on gatorboard glyph. 24 x 18 inches. Collaboration with Troy Gua for ‘Meet Greet Rinse Repeat.’

Troy designed and hand-crafted nearly fifty of these glyphs.

He then handed them out to artists to work with. After a few months, he collected them, coated many of them with resin, and in March 2010 hung the lot in a truly epic group show at Monarch Contemporary.

When I received my blank glyph, I was perplexed with it, at first. For nearly two months, I merely looked at it, hanging on a bedroom wall. I’d been making postcard collages and was interested in taking this to a larger scale, but couldn’t see it coming together on that strange canvas.

Then one day I came across a box of old 4×6 photographs, taken in my late teens. Sifting through them, looking for gems to share with friends, I was struck by how many of the shots were poorly exposed and considered throwing out the majority. With all of them set aside, however, I was struck with their consistency in color and feel. Despite coming from so many different rolls and taken on so many different occasions, their similarities were what shown through.

So I spread them out, arranged them. The pieces came together alarmingly well, so I set about slicing them and re-assembling them with my new-found love for sewing. Aside from my pleasure at having tackled an abstract canvas with such an abstract visual assembly, I am also pleased with the implied narrative and how it reflects much of my personal growth.

In addition to being a part of the collaborative group, I worked with Troy to put together an exhibition book, an 8×10″ full color collection of all 50 works in the show.

Visit troygua.com to see the full series and much more from the prolific Troy Gua.

View work details »