In ‘The Temptation of…’ two artists explore the complexities between sexuality, desire, and the impact of societal norms on personal identity. 

 

Lydia McCaig elicits the tension she experiences, caught between her own sense of a woman’s sexuality and the male gaze; and her upbringing within the Church. A place where religious teachings on sex, foster a deep-seated conflict between moral restraint and youthful curiosity. This conflict manifests in her work through the use of religious iconography and the subversive reveal of clandestine sexuality seen in sacred imagery. 

 

Eli Craven re-evaluates the psychological and emotional power of photographic images, using material interventions to explore themes of sexuality, desire, and death in the everyday. Reconfiguring mundane or discarded images, manipulating found images and creating compositions, he invites viewers to confront the potential and intent of the images' subjects.