Torso III (2022)

Ro Robertson’s practice spans sculpture, drawing, photography and performance to explore the boundaries of the human body and its environment. An overarching theme throughout their work is the idea of a ‘raincoat layer’ of the body, as borrowed from lesbian and trans activist Leslie Feinberg’s novel Stone Butch Blues (1993). This is concerned with the space between the inner landscape and external forces, and how one can be protected from the other.

Torso III is part of a series that takes a critical look at the gendered associations of a torso and presents it instead as an archipelago. The biomorphic form is paired with found objects – in this case, boxer shorts. Underwear recurs in Robertson’s performances and sculptures, and its role shifts from that of the base layer to the outer layer in full view. It also references the outdated masquerade laws that were enforced in the US in the nineteenth century.

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