Willem Strauss
Willem Strauss – BA/BFA
Working in a mens cruising sauna since July of 2022, the focus of my work has been on the false hierarchy of cleanliness and dirtiness, the fragility of purity and impurity, and the internalised shame these things create. My aim has been to build a space where relics of homoerotic experiences are treasured, even sanctified. Condom packaging and laundry detergent boxes become the tabernacles which hold the sacrament, and fleeting moments of intimacy shared between strangers become immortal and divine.