At First I was Afraid: intimate and vulnerable photographs pay tribute to William Yang

Yang's works inspired Emil Cañita, who will soon be presenting their first solo exhibition at MARS Gallery.
Emil Cañita. A gloryhole made from a timber board reveals a seductive half-opened mouth with red lipstick and framed by black lace.

Content warning: this article includes reference to child sexual abuse in the third paragraph. 

Upcoming at MARS Gallery in the Melbourne suburb of Windsor is an exhibition by Emil Cañita. The show features a series of photographs that stage raw and reflective encounters with men Cañita has met through sex work. 

While Cañita didn’t go through formal training as an artist, their work stems from a particular set of conditions and lived experiences that make the results so tender but also powerful.

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Celina Lei is ArtsHub's Content Manager. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. She took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs and was the project manager of ArtsHub’s diverse writers initiative, Amplify Collective. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne. Instagram @lleizy_