Birth of the Frog Man
Yoga (BTFM) 2020
Life is full of little births and little deaths. The taking up of one name or the letting go of another is one type of little birth or little death. Over the years I have adopted various pseudonyms and artist monikers: G.E.M. (Green Eyed Monster), MountainMan/CityBoy, JustAnotherHungryGhost etc… Similarly I have changed what I ask people to call me on a social basis. Mostly variations or adaptations of my first or last name. Each iteration has reflected my artistic and philosophical interests along with my general mood, and mental/emotional state.
Out of focus trailer trash 2020… photo sketch
A good friend of mine who regularly trades in verbal brilliance and gobbly-gook had periodically been talking about the big tough frog man. “We’re just a couple of big tough frog men arn’t we” or “You just trying to be a big tough frog man huh?”. Sometimes he would rant about nice juicy grapes and crusty chameleons louging on nice italians furniture or remark that my dog was the tiniest gorilla he had ever seen. I’m not sure why the Big Tough Frog Man stuck in my mind and initially it didn’t.
Living in a Trailer Down By the River 2020
Drinking beers with an old friend in Chattanooga I found myself in the home of a guy who only remembered me as the Cat Jacket Man. I have a great cat jacket. He had a German Short Haired Pointer (GSP) as well (My dog child’s name is Diggity). He recently had adopted a new one after the passing of his previous dog. His first GSP had loved a stuffed animal frog and had taken it everywhere. He purchased one for his new GSP but the connection between stuffed and live animal wasn’t the same this time around so he gave it to me for Diggity. She ended up loving it a little too much. It was shredded in two days. As I was cleaning up the carnage I found the decapitated and gutted head and put it on.
Out of focus trailer trash (2) 2020… photo sketch
The Big Tough Frog Man of my friends rambling wordplay immediately came to mind. The mask was kinda silly and a little unsettling but I dug it. At first it was just something fun but as I was recovering from something of a mental health and identity crisis; it got me thinking on how we affix identities to ourselves and the masks that we put on for different people, jobs, roles or moments in our lives. ‘I am a doctor, a teacher, an artist, a mother…’ Who are you around your parents, your friends, your lover, at work, or online? Its intentional at least to a degree but often its involuntary or subconscious. The idea of a Big Tough Frog Man inspires a sense of silliness but there is an implied strength in that title. He is tough. He is resilient.
Big Tough Frog Man Masks 2020
In my first handful of photoshoots and sessions with the Big Tough Frog Man, I’ve been playing with my anxieties around societal/social expectations of masculinity, what it means to be strong, how to be successful and expectations around who is welcome in one lifestyle or another. The Big Tough Frog Man was born for me to be a fun art prop but also a persona or mask through which I am intentionally exploring ideas of identity, self and the masks we all wear.
