In Zachari Logan’s lush depictions of flora and fauna, one might be surprised to learn that all his nymphs have robust, masculine bodies — a contrast to the typical portrayals of nude, forest-dwelling females we might expect. Logan primarily uses himself as his model for his drawings and paintings, turning his elaborate studies of nature into explorations of alternative forms of masculinity. In his new “Eunuch Tapestry Series,” a series of mural-scale pastel drawings, Logan uses his likeness to comment on gender presentation. “In these large-scale panoramic views, my hidden figure, embodies the character of the unicorn, inhabiting a similar marginal masculinity or queerness,” he said. “My interest in the character of the unicorn goes beyond the drama of its pursuit, as I am deeply interested in its existence as a unique creature. These works are incredibly fragile, having no real possibility of fixing the pastel pigment, leaving them exposed, similarly to the ephemera of an old tapestry.”
In Logan’s monochromatic, blue drawing series, he seeks to illustrate the wide spectrum of gender and sexuality with his delicately-rendered cornucopias of plants and forest-dwelling creatures. “The weaving of animal and plant imagery aids my queries into the social and sexual assumptions most humans have about the vast majority of humans and other animals,” he said. “The reality of sexual diversity and roles in nature are often misunderstood by so many.” Logan’s works stop being self-portraits and become more like still lifes, where his figure becomes one visual element among many. By offering up his body to the viewers’ gaze, he opens up a dialogue about the ways we are accustomed to seeing gender play out in our society’s visual culture.
