'The Second Cumming or “You Look Like That Guy (sic) From Queer Eye” '

My self-portrait ‘The Second Cumming’ is a response to the gay, cis, men who would contact me on dating apps after I grew my hair long with the explicit purpose of telling me I either looked either like Jesus or ‘Queer Eye’s’ Jonathan Van Ness. I had just turned 33.

Being a respectful atheist these observations were uncomfortable, particularly with the gusto with which they were delivered. For my image to be aligned with that of the poster-boy of the Christian community certainly seemed like a bizarre occurrence and frankly one which I found ill-fitting considering my whole being screamed 'I am a heathen, Queer person who enjoys the Occult'.

I thought it would be passing phenomena, however as my hair grew longer and my gender presentation became less masculine the comments increased. Something about my unbridled femininity shook and activated white-cis-gay men within my community to make their observations of my physical appearance known to me.

Thus, ‘The Second Cumming’ was (re)born. I took back the night. I became a tattooed, demon-eyed Queer Jesus, adorned with a 3D printed, fetish-wear styled thorn of crows and a collar with silver hardware accessories.

If I couldn’t beat them (trust me, I couldn’t) then I would own them - King James Edition.

This work is about the reclaiming of one's image through the facade of persona and celebrates and documents my ‘re-coming out’ as a non-binary person at the end of 2021.

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TOM CHRISTOPHERSEN is a Sydney based, award winning, Queer performer and visual artist whom is as petrified of beautiful things and death as much as he is transfixed by them. It is primarily the car-crashing of these two themes which permeate the hyper-realistic, almost surrealistic, often dark portraits and films he produces.
Tom aims to bring focus back to portraiture that is of a level of detail it demands an intimate level of engagement from the viewer. Working almost exclusively on watercolour paper with watercolour pencil and acrylic, Tom hopes his traditional, technical approach to drawing and painting provide a fresh, immediate offering to portraiture and indeed representation of the self. The figures and themes within Tom’s work are often autobiographical and based on real life experiences.

Tom’s artistic intention has always been to make images that create the necessary disturbances in order to provoke permanent, positive change.
Commission, print and sale enquiries are available via request.

Tom lives and works on the stolen Gadigal lands of the Eora Nation.