What Remains Of Saint Presley
about overcoming shame
2023–2025
This project stems from a desire to confront shame and reclaim spaces tied to my past. Growing up, I often felt out of place, reduced to being “the weird one,” which shaped how I occupy space and how I am seen.
I adopted the figure of Elvis Presley to move through that discomfort. Not as a convincing imitation, but as a fragile construction: a self-made costume, slightly off, never fully believable. This imperfect Elvis became a shield, allowing me to return to places that once felt unsafe.
The work moves between exposure and protection. Outside, Elvis heightened my discomfort. Inside, the costume allowed moments of freedom to surface, alongside doubt and vulnerability. The images remain within this tension.
The project developed as a personal ritual with a defined end, concluding with a symbolic marriage in Las Vegas. What remains is not transformation, but the trace of having dared to step into it. The preserved sideburns remain as a relic: not as proof of becoming someone else, but of briefly allowing myself to exist differently.
