THE KISS
Nothing is known about this photograph — not who these men were, where they stood, or when the image was taken. Everything surrounding the moment has been lost to history.
Early photography demanded absolute stillness, yet the image is blurred, suggesting spontaneity and haste. Perhaps the couple knew they had only a fleeting moment before returning to the concealment demanded by a world that named such love a crime.
But someone else was there: an anonymous third person, holding the camera, choosing to preserve this moment. That the photograph survived at all — hidden, privately held — was its own kind of defiance.
The embroidery borrows its visual language from Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I: the square motifs, subtle curved lines, and gold ornamentation. These elements wrap around the couple, creating a sanctuary around their intimacy. Here, they are honoured.
$795 CAD
The pomegranate has carried transgression across millennia. In the Greek myth, Persephone eats pomegranate seeds and is condemned to live between two worlds, earth and the underworld, belonging fully to neither. Across cultures and centuries, the fruit recurs weighted with the same: desire and its cost.
This man was photographed by Cavalier studio, circa 1955. He is otherwise unnamed. In that decade, desire like his was criminal. Many gay men lived as he did — publicly performing lives that society dictated, privately inhabiting lives they could not name. Always moving between worlds. Always being pushed back.
The pomegranate above him is overripe. It has long been suspended. The release from that divided life would take decades more.
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The Kiss is 6 x 8 inches (15.24 × 20.32 cm). The vintage photograph is transferred to a tight weave cotton and embroidered with cotton thread and Japanese gold thread. The image is mounted on art board and floated on a mat board and behind glass.
The black wood frame is 11" x 14" (approximately 30 cm x 36 cm). The piece is ready to hang with D-rings and wire on the back. A hook and nail is included.
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Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Klarna, Afterpay, Link, and other options are available.
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Shipping is included in the price of each piece. Works are carefully packaged and shipped via courier with tracking. All pieces ship from Vancouver, Canada. Delivery times vary by destination.
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International buyers may be subject to import duties, taxes, or customs fees. These are determined by your country's regulations and collected by the carrier on delivery. The Queer Thread does not collect or remit these charges.
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Each piece is framed and ready to hang. The length of the hanging wire can easily be adjusted. A hook and nail is included.
The glass and frame can be cleaned with a cloth dampened with clean, soapy water or glass cleaner solution.
Display your artwork away from direct sunlight and heat sources.
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A Certificate of Authenticity is provided with each piece.
The vintage images are sourced from online archives, collectors, and dealers. I credit photographers, studios, and models whenever the record allows.
Queer art has a long history of appropriation, largely because overt self-expression was not possible for gay people. Appropriation allowed artists to code messages in their work and, in many cases, pay tribute to those who came before them — artists who were unable to fully express themselves openly.
My work continues this tradition. It is grounded in the work of pioneer photographers and models; to these images I add new expressions of meaning that comment on the history of queer culture and people.
The source photographs are black and white. I apply a digital colourization before the image is transferred to cotton — not to modernize it, but because the contrast of black and white against coloured embroidery thread is too stark. The colourization is deliberately unrefined; I want the image to retain its age. Beyond this, I make no alterations to the photograph.
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All sales are final. In the unlikely event your piece arrives damaged, please photograph the packaging and artwork immediately upon receipt and contact me within 48 hours. I will work with you to find a resolution.
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