"Sex, fundamently defined, is a biological necessity, an instintual behavior; human sexuality encompasses that, and much more.
Add in the dichotomies imposed by our patriarchal society and simple comprehension becomes increasingly convoluted.

Sexuality, traditionally the male identified trappings and indulgencies attempt to coerce and to manipulate women into attractive ciphers, without exhibiting any overt sexual desires of their own, a tool employed by mass media to assuage male insecurities by aggressively asserting masculine satisfaction and appeasement as the main object.

This group of images is not concerned with perpetuating the cliché of what is accepted as male or female. Herculean proportions endowed with a structure of hard musculature, or an invitingly soft and voluptuous figure, need not be limited in portrayal by gender.

Sensuality exists in spite of sexuality. A body, deprived of that which signifies its sex, still attracts (or repulses) in accordance to individual desires. In the words of the artist himself, "I use photography as a mean to illustrate the underlining confusion of gender identification. The viewer is compelled to re-examine her or his sense of self and consider how a persona may contribute to a change at large. The release of a millenium-long construction of gender and power."

Plauto’s current exhibit is composed of twenty six 30x40 inch Cibachrome prints installed in the shape of a pyramid. At the base are studies of various body parts, the tip culminates with an image of an entire body. The eyes of the models are never exposed and the skin is lit in artificial hues, diminishing the issue of gender even further.

Gender, within the context of the show, may ultimatly prove to be irrelevent.

The senses are focal point where sensuality takes over the discriminatory and bias power of sexuality. In so doing,
Plauto explores societally perceived sex roles and the duality that coexists inside each of us."

Matthew Devon Jones
Spring 1989