Achilles and Patroclus 1910

My series, "History hates lovers," uses the function of elevator doors to address historical erasure and queer justice.

The stagnant paper represents the exterior doors. This symbolizes a fixed, unchangeable past, which I view as the exterior elevation of a memory. The reference to Art Nouveau grave doors highlights this static boundary of what has been accepted and buried. In this context, the past is a tool of historical erasure.

In contrast, the moving interior doors represent a different perspective. This is the interior elevation—a personal and evolving view that re-examines and reclaims history. The constant motion symbolizes the ongoing work of queer justice, which fights against erasure by bringing buried truths to light.

This is the core of my love for the tale of Achilles and Patroclus. I use a multi-layered approach to reclaim this queer epic by centering the romantic bond between them. My work mirrors the artistic collectives of the Art Nouveau era, a period when queer men and women found ways to express themselves and create communities despite social repression.

Art Nouveau, with its emphasis on aestheticism and a rejection of rigid Victorian morality, provided a sense of artistic freedom. It was an environment where queer figures could thrive. The English illustrator Aubrey Beardsley, with his decadent style, became a symbol of this movement's artistic rebellion and was a central figure in a queer subculture that included Oscar Wilde. For queer women, figures like the American dancer Loie Fuller used the Art Nouveau stage to explore fluid, non-traditional forms of movement and self-expression, creating a space for a different kind of female identity.