Juxtapoz Magazine – INSEX: Alex Stoddard’s Colorfully Dark, Surreal World

The photographs from Alex Stoddard’s exhibition at Fahey/Klein Gallery, INSEX, explore the parallels between metamorphosis in the natural world and human coming-of-age. Through staged, highly stylized images, Stoddard invites viewers into a colorfully dark world of budding sexuality and crawling insects. This series of previously unreleased images paint a surreal picture of adolescence in a glorious frenzy of buzzing hormones and sprouting wings. The works on display were created over a span of five years in locations around the world. Each constructed scene features a youthful subject, often Stoddard himself, in a state of change or paired with a many-legged counterpart.

Alex Stoddard was raised in rural Georgia. Inspired by his surroundings and rural isolation, he began taking self-portraits as a teenager. Photography became a means of escape, allowing him to construct elaborate scenes and step into the role of different characters through costumes and posing. Stoddard’s work is highly influenced by art history in the digital age. He explores concepts of fantasy and surrealism within portraiture, as well as the human form and its connection to nature. He is entirely self-taught and relies on his eye and natural instinct when creating. His method of image-making is characterized by simple compositions that frame more meaningful, universal themes.