TUFTED MIRROR #13

Mark Gens

Mixed media on wood

8 x 21 inches

2025

About Tufted Mirrors:
For years, I perceived my skin as a real, tangible boundary — a sturdy, enigmatic casing that protected my inner self, only cryptically revealing who I am. Over time, I’ve embraced the collapse of this boundary and sought ways for my inner self to emerge into the external world. Although my skin is an undeniable physical limit, it is also a symbolic veil, a stage for the theater of self, where stories of biology, mythology, and internal emotions play out. What I believed to be a barrier is a mirror in which my inner self is reflected.

This bold attempt to look, know, and see myself found expression in Tufted Mirrors. The work is driven by introspection and revelation, a deliberate confrontation with the self, moving beyond mere appearances to connect with the raw markings of a life lived. I reject the traditional dichotomy of inner and outer selves, bridging my rich and complex inner self with my veil of skin, uncovering that which has shaped my “self.”

In the studio, the command to look, know, and see was followed with an almost ritualistic dedication. My process itself mirrors the breaking down of boundaries. I treat the skin not as an impenetrable shield, but as a permeable membrane — a delicate surface through which my inner self surges into the outer world. In fractured and elusive mirror images I capture the complexity of self-reflection. Memories, dreams, fears and desires are summoned from below, allowed to puncture the surface.

About Mark Gens:
Mark Gens is a multi-media artist whose work includes collage, installation, video, e-literature, sculpture, and critical writing. He received his BFA from Otis College of Art in Los Angeles CA and his MFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn NY. Mark is a queer boy who came out in New York City in the midst of the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s.

This deeply personal and political experience became the driving force in his life and in his studio practice. He has worked throughout the US teaching art to children and adults, participating in intercultural art programs, and exhibiting artwork. Although the 1980s and 1990s were a dark time in the life of NYC, Mark was also aware of the phenomenal burgeoning creativity: hip hop culture, activist art, community organizing, ACT UP, etc. He understands how creativity and cultural production have always served well political and personal action. Over the past four decades Mark has maintained a prolific art practice, “I have engaged image, object, space, and audience with the goal of raising consciousness and awakening perception.” While the core of his art practice remains the same, Mark is always exploring new methods, materials, and imagery.