Photography
The Animal Seems to Be Moving
Photographic series
Archival pigment prints, variable sizes | 2018-2023
Having always been masculine, in The Animal Seems to be Moving I turn to self-portraiture for the first time to map a shift in my appearance, one marked by both loss and fear. Long perceived to be younger than my age, with this ongoing body of work, I consider the experience of aging out of being read as a young black boy and aging in to being read as a middle-aged black man. Given the threat that black masculinity poses to many, the series is at once a mourning of my own queer boyhood as well as a grappling with the absurdity of having to face increased hostility, simply because of growing older. Deploying performance and humour, these self-portraits allow the viewer to see me looking at myself as I imagine something closer to the truth of what it means to age otherwise in my black, queer masculine body.
Installation Photo (Art Gallery of Hamilton, 2022): Yuula Benivolski
![Hairy Romper](https://michelepearsonclarke.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hairy_Romper-2.png)
![](https://michelepearsonclarke.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/OAC.png)
![Tshirt Head (Halfway On), 2021](https://michelepearsonclarke.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Tshirt_Head_001-40x40-1.png)
![Glitter Stache, 2021](https://michelepearsonclarke.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Glitter_Stache.jpg)
![Tshirt Head (Halfway Off), 2021](https://michelepearsonclarke.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Tshirt_Head_002-30x40-1.png)
![Hairy Romper, 2021](https://michelepearsonclarke.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hairy_Romper.jpg)
![Art Gallery of Hamilton, Muscle Memory, 2022](https://michelepearsonclarke.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Michele_Pearson_Clarke_Muscle_Memory_AGH_2022_Web-01669.jpg)
![Little Trees (Hold), 2021](https://michelepearsonclarke.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Tree_Pendant-001-24x30-1.png)
![Woods 1, 2018](https://michelepearsonclarke.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Woods-1-scaled.jpg)
![Little Trees (Release), 2021](https://michelepearsonclarke.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Tree_Pendant-002-24x30-1.png)
![Woods 2, 2018](https://michelepearsonclarke.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Michele-Pearson-Clarke.png)