Jeremy Smith

‘Gay Man Map’ is a highly detailed and colourful drawing of the psychology of gay men as an island. The drawing was completed during the 2nd covid lockdown in 2021. In ‘Gay Man Map’ 2021 I was inspired by psychologist Alan Downs seminal work ‘Velvet Rage’ to map out the 3 stages of gay men psychology, namely: coming out of the closet, seeking validation and the quest of authenticity. At the centre of the drawing is the Citadel of Self, flanked by the City of Love and the City of Sex, with Ego palace in the middle. At the top is the summit of authenticity with each mountain range one of the rainbow flag colours. The map is an Island, surrounded by the Sea of Consciousness, Straight Island and Lesbian Island. Within the map locations like: Pride Forest, Shame Desert, Land of the Closet, Pleasure Point, The Well of Loneliness, Point of No Return, PrEP Castle, Shipwrecks of Ex Boyfriends, Hookup Ranges, The Haunted House of High School, Vanities of Vanities, Reef of Regret, Fear of Failure Dragon, Islands of Expectation vs Reality, Fear of Aging Valley, Tower of Generations, Cum Volcano, Industrial Section of ‘I Want What I Can’t Have’, Peter Pan Syndrome, the Ruins of Religion, No Man’s Land of Abomination, Trauma rocks, the eyes of the Queer Gaze, Fag Hag Island, Sea of Nature vs. Nurture, suburb of The Forbidden Fruit, the waiting zone of Some Day, the Tower of Future, the ruins of the Past, and finally the Large Close Mum Moon and the Distant Father Sun.
The original of the work was purchased by the State Library of New South Wales for their permanent collection.