| “Estranged” refers to someone or something that was formerly close and no longer is. With a broad and holistic understanding of sexuality and sex, and after years of honest and stark introspection and reflection upon existence and society begins Estranged Sex: a work about a sexuality that is both strange and estranged, natural and alienated. Estranged Sex suggests an ironic, critical, and rarefied approach to sexuality. Sexuality is understood as a psychosocial and biological entity present on each and every aspect of an individual’s existence. It is a vast and comprehensive understanding of the term that gives meaning to this series. |  |
Sandra Torralba
“Estranged” refers to someone or something that was formerly close and no longer is. With a broad and holistic understanding of sexuality and sex, and after years of honest and stark introspection and reflection upon existence and society begins Estranged Sex: a work about a sexuality that is both strange and estranged, natural and alienated. Estranged Sex suggests an ironic, critical, and rarefied approach to sexuality. Sexuality is understood as a psychosocial and biological entity present on each and every aspect of an individual’s existence. It is a vast and comprehensive understanding of the term that gives meaning to this series.
Estranged Sex is not a distorted reflection of reality given by a subjective mirror, but more the reaction to such reality. Equally, it is not a modern and sexually liberated statement, but rather a fight for a freer understanding. What I propose is a reflection upon sexual taboos, the deconstruction of pornography, the naturalization of what’s humane, the normalization of the alienated, and the legitimation of female sexuality’s goodness. I am challenging the established boundaries upon sexuality, and defying society’s compulsive obsession to control, condemn, and restrict human nature.
The series’ earliest works in 2008-2009 intended to portray quotidian yet rarified situations both to provoke laughter and thinking. Each of them attempted to address an aspect of sexuality, be it, for example, the relation to one’s body, or the naturalness of physical contact, and its distortion and corruption through social learning, or featuring a couple that feels forever lacking and in need of following external advice to spice up their sexual life with very little success. Although I obviously have my own standpoints, the images do not want to bias the observer into drawing a moral conclusion about what is wrong or what is right. They play with humor, attempting to take heaviness away from serious matters, and remain open and weird so that observers can interpret freely at their own pace.
Estranged Sex 08 is more recent, where the discourse has become progressively more obscure. The image was based on one of my clients’ experiences back in my years as a therapist. She had been abused throughout her childhood, and one way she found to cope with the disgust was to use cleaning gloves. The image does not address sexual abuse, but wanted to portray how hatred, disgust, and alienation of both parts of the couple can be present in our sexual lives, be it caused by previous traumatic experiences or any other reason.
And the reason for all of this is my belief that what goes unsaid and hidden, works at some other levels affecting our lives and experiences, distorting it, provoking suffering. I try to address all the issues I can think of, to prevent them from remaining unseen and unchallenged. Perhaps then we might want to construct things differently.
