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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.

16 Feb 2024 9:00

Celina Lei

Emil Cañita. A gloryhole made from a timber board reveals a seductive half-opened mouth with red lipstick and framed by black lace.

Visual Arts

Emil Cañita, ‘Emil’s Gloryhole’, upcoming exhibition at MARS Gallery. Image: Courtesy of the artist.

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

Celina Lei is the Diversity and Inclusion Editor at ArtsHub. She acquired her M.A in Art, Law and Business in New York with a B.A. in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Melbourne. 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. Most recently, Celina was one of three Australian participants in DFAT’s the Future of Leadership program. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne. Instagram @lleizy_