HAVE WE REACHED THE END OF NORMAL? by NICKY ROMANO

Have We Reached the End of Normal? – An excerpt from an article in the weeks following global lockdowns from COVID-19; the context is warped by appearing over a fainting, renaissance like, woman reaching out to an omniscient hand for a cigarette. Meant to capture a moment of apathy and dread but made comical, by the obtuse “Monty Python meets Michelangelo” tribute to The Creation of Adam

Tu Cuerpo Se Crea Cuando Mis Manos Lo Recorren – Meaning, “Your body is created when my hands traverse it”, a shattered image of a couple on the brink of embrace is meant to portray a sultry tension complimented by an ambiguous body bathing in the sea as the background

Para Su Belleza, No Le Preocupe – Translating to, “For his beauty, he doesn’t worry”, several cascading photo booth pictures with my eyes cut out are meant to solicit an unsettling vanity, bolstered by the façade of confidence alluded to by the title

“Te Quiero”, Murmuró él – Meaning, “I love you, he murmured” is meant to convey a projection of closeted tumult as one jai alai player looks deeply at the other who appears utterly oblivious and distanced from his partner

Famous and Damned – A woman is splayed out on a pool’s surface in a dissociative trance, while the title warns of the correlation of opulence and misery

La Belleza – A woman’s face is obstructed with the statement “The Beauty” making her disposition cold and almost inhuman as a little girl idles at her, nodding to the sinister side of contemporary beauty industries

Privacy – Radiating with unsettling anonymity of a stewardess and musician with obstructed faces, the aggressive presence of a repeated security stamp is meant to conjure feelings of discomfort and intrusion for the observer

Casta y Pura Hasta la Sepultura – Translating to “Chase and Pure Until the Grave” this phrase, lightheartedly recited by queer Spanish memes is given a macabre contextualization when placed over a vintage mattress add where a man is turning off the lights for a sleeping woman. Originally, a loving gesture, the covering of their eyes distorts their intent. The clash of the message in Spanish over the Bulgarian text is intended to add another level of disorientation for the observer