Label TextPetal and inverting are both black-and-white silver gelatin prints, printed with
meticulous and precise attention to the evocative qualities of light and dark. The deep
black background in inverting juxtaposes the delicate, open form of a blooming lily. In
Petal, darkness appears at the recesses of the image, highlighting the intimate
encounter in the foreground—the white tones of skin-on-skin and the ivory sheen of
plastic. A hallmark of Elle Pérez's practice is arranging pictures in poignant vignettes that
allow the artist to communicate poetic resonances between works. The notion of a soft,
tactile, and vulnerable flower petal is paired with an image of intimacy via sexual
bondage, heightening the symbolic register of this depiction of skin contact. In their own
description, Pérez is after “the desire for something to be felt viscerally — to feel like
you’re able to hit a certain note that has to do with a fact of living previously undescribed and, in my case, achieving a photographic description of the ephemeral
condition of living. ... What is being communicated often isn’t discursive but is somatic.
DimensionsFrame: 49 7/8 x 39 3/8 in. (126.7 x 100 cm)
Sheet (visible): 48 1/2 x 37 7/8 in. (123.2 x 96.2 cm)
Image: 44 x 33 3/8 in. (111.8 x 84.8 cm)
Sheet (visible): 48 1/2 x 37 7/8 in. (123.2 x 96.2 cm)
Image: 44 x 33 3/8 in. (111.8 x 84.8 cm)
Accession Number 2025.39
Classificationsphotograph
SignedElle Pérez (on label, verso l,c, ink)
EditionEdition 3/5 + II AP
