TWISTED EROTICISM AND THE OCCULT: MEET JOSEPH HÄXAN
The Bell Chimes Thrice - The Rite of Spring Series
Emerging from the shadows is Joseph Häxan, a photographer and filmmaker out of Australia who is blurring the lines between our deepest fears and our wildest fantasies. Using his own body as a model, Häxan strips down to create dark and fantastical productions, pushing the limits of the human body. His long-time fascination with the occult and devil worship is apparent throughout all that he creates, the unsettling complexities of our universe looming over us with each visual. In addition to the occult, Häxan finds inspiration in the dark and obscure underbelly of film. A movie-maker at heart, each photo series serves as a cinematic still, drenched in storytelling and strong narratives. His presentation of pitch black darkness contrasted with a confrontational white flash, lifts the curtain, unveiling the power of imagination and the exploration of life’s unanswered questions.
Häxan himself is an extraterrestrial force, a nocturnal messenger of the supernatural who challenges us to take a deeper look inside and at our surroundings, everything is not as it seems. Through the cosmic language of the human body, Häxan’s image manipulation transports us into a world of eerie comfort, shoving us into his dark abyss and throwing away the key. His work confronts us with the most raw aspects of our humanity, one that is deeply rooted in nature’s virtue, drawing us in to see the beauty in less obvious places.
GATA sat down with the man behind the madness, learning more about his aesthetic inspirations and journey towards self-discovery.
Stillness of Night, Totality Approaches - The Rite of Spring Series
The Lovers - The Rite of Spring Series
Hi Joseph! Can you please introduce yourself to the GATA family?
Hello GATA! My name is Joseph Häxan, I’m an artist working in composite photography and film/video. I’m from Australia, I studied fine art and photography at university and now use those skills to create my work we’re talking about today.
When was the moment that you first knew that you wanted to pursue a career in the arts?
I guess when I decided that despite my love of animals, I didn’t think becoming a biologist would suit all parts of me. Especially as a teenager, I really felt I had something to say, or that I could say something in a way it hadn’t been said before. I felt like I had unique interests and wanted to use my work to promote those interests to a new audience. I think, in retrospect, art making for me has always been about drawing a crowd (or finding one) but through individualism.
When you were first starting out as an artist, what inspired your unique blend of animality, dystopia, and the occult?
Definitely cinema. I think movies are such an accessible way to foster an interest in the arts. I spent a lot of time alone as a teenager discovering films from long ago. I enjoyed hunting down copies of obscure films back when streaming wasn’t as prevalent as it is today. I also had an obsession with 80s horror films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, and was greatly changed by the work of Lars Von Trier. My discovery of his catalogue sort of snowballed my interest in that sort of thematic filmmaking. People like Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch just blew my mind at the time, and were hugely inspirational figures in my early adulthood. I think the occult particularly captured my imagination for its longevity in culture, and the feeling that the occult sort of connected us to earlier versions of humanity. It’s still a bit of a mystery to me, to be honest. I was interested long before I started questioning the interest, if that makes sense?
“I think imagination is the closest conscious connection we have to God”
The Crystal Calls - Rite of Spring Series
In Space the Stars Are No Nearer - Body Horror Series
How do you approach the process of self-portraiture in your work? What challenges and benefits do you find in using yourself as a model
I’m quite a shy person generally, so I do struggle with directing people I don’t know well. The aspect of self portraiture initially was just out of necessity, and was a preference, but has grown with time into perhaps the most spiritually significant aspect of the work. The benefit is that the work takes on a performative aspect, and I become relevant to the larger narrative. It’s obviously a very personal expression, so it just feels natural that I am my own model. It’s interesting, I think, to see how the body changes over time, and how the changing mind is reflected in the changing body. The challenge is that it can be isolating, and it’s a very lonely process sometimes, but that’s true of a lot of art-making, and it only bothers me some of the time.
Your work often focuses on the exploration of the human form. What attracts you to using bodies as the main subject for your photography, especially with the exclusion of any faces?
It’s mostly my great love and fascination with natural structures. The complex simplicity of animal and plant design is one of my primary inspirations. We’re all so familiar with how human bodies look, it’s very easy to forget their connection to that cosmic design language. I suppose I like looking at bodies without their cultural identities, as though they were the bodies of bears or cats. I think there’s a lot of power in seeing man as the animal that he is, but not in a reductive way, or with a particular agenda. It’s also just a way of reckoning with the idea of being a body, being finite. The slung-back heads are kind of complex in meaning, so I’ll refer to this segment of a description I’ve previously given to explain:
“The figures in many works tilt their heads dramatically backwards, to uncanny effect, maintaining this considered view of reality, as seen through the inverse image presented by a transparent sphere. The laboured effort to maintain this view is a visualisation of the efforts of the philosopher, and my wish to transcend the body and this plane of being.”
It’s mostly helps with finding the mindset I want to work in, and is a physical part of the ritual of making the works. It’s also about the elevating the body and making it feel more universal.
The Witches - Nativity Series
Sin Will Find You Out - Nativity Series
Your photo series Nativity was the only instance I could find of your models being clothed. Can you explain the concept behind this series and what inspired you to include clothing in these particular photographs in comparison to others you’ve done?
Nativity was the first series I made that was entirely self portraiture, and it was made when I was at university during what I would say was a pretty intense period of self discovery. I was probably a lot more concerned for the direction of culture than I am now, and if you look at the works in that series chronologically, I think you can see me shedding a lot of cultural baggage and finding my individual voice. I was told by another artist I admired that everything in your frame should have a distinct purpose, and in my mind clothing doesn’t serve my purposes, so it is mostly excluded. Clothing is taken for granted, it’s such a part of our daily lives that we see ourselves without it as strange or even scary. I think going without in most works means I can incorporate it when it makes sense to much greater symbolic and aesthetic effect.
Your imagery is a play on some of our deepest fears, is there anything that you are scared of personally?
I’m scared of a lot of things, probably I’m most scared of the deterioration of my body with old age. I think that’s one reason I fixate on it in the work, because I’ve never run from things I’m scared of.
Cave Dreaming - The Rite of Spring Series
Blood Moon - The Rite of Spring Series
“If you can push past the initial fear of the unknown and exist outside your comfort zone, you get to experience a beautiful, quiet world that welcomes you, in its own way.”
Many of your photographs are set in the dark or nighttime. What is it about these settings that captivate you as an artist?
The night is for the lonely I think. Nighttime for me has always offered a window to the quiet rhythm of things. It provides us with better opportunities for contemplation and deeper thought. I am drawn to it. I can function in the day, but I never feel like more than 50% of myself. I think being a diurnal creature but living at night encourages you to see the hidden things that surround you. Realising that there is a whole other world of animals and plant activity that is usually hidden from us is provocation for thinking about other hidden realities and possibilities. It’s like a barrier of entry in some ways. If you can push past the initial fear of the unknown and exist outside your comfort zone, you get to experience a beautiful, quiet world that welcomes you, in its own way.
Looking at your work transports us into another universe. If you could live in any world, fictional or historical, where would it be and why?
Probably I’d like to live in the toxic jungle from Nausicaä: valley of the wind. I’d like to live in a universe of ultimate tranquility and rest for 1000 years with the insects.
Your photographs have a distinct storytelling aspect to them. How do you conceptualize and develop narratives within your work?
Yes, I think my love of cinema has really driven the narrative aspect of the work. It’s also just how I tend to think about things, or how my imagination works. I think imagination is the closest conscious connection we have to God, or the creative force of reality, but it doesn’t always show us things in a neatly packaged offering. I think being able to translate your artistry into a narrative helps people connect to it, but it also means that works take on a greater power when paired with their counterparts, and it also helps you to guide your imagination. I don’t think all art has to have a narrative to be meaningful, but I do find most of the work I connect with in a real way has at least allusions to some kind of internal narrative. I just think it feels deeper, like a framework for interpretation, but a subtle one that leaves room for personal projections as well.
Click on the image to watch “The Black Rite” short film
The Black Rite (Ritual Film) - Joseph Häxan Short Film
Seeing as you create short films yourself, what are some of your favorite pieces of cinema that influence your artistic direction?
Off the top of my head right now my favourite films are Kwaidan by Masaki Kobayashi, Under the Skin by Jonathan Glazer, Antichrist by Lars Von Trier and Mulholland Dr. by David Lynch
I see that you also have experience as an archivist, besides film, how do other mediums inspire you?
Yes, I have done a bit of archival work for other artists and galleries, it’s actually something that runs in my family. Other than digital mediums I’m probably most drawn to ceramics and modelling. I enjoy how tactile the work is and like how iterative it can be. I think I struggle a bit with traditional drawing or painting because it’s not as easy to revise and make changes. I like being able to try things and then completely change direction easily, that’s part of my creative process and why I like working digitally.
When looking at your work, I feel as though I am rushed into an all-consuming fever dream. What feelings do you hope to evoke in viewers through your art?
It’s interesting because I’ve become very associated with negative emotions through making the images that I do, but really I just enjoy challenging people to see beauty in less obvious places. The anger that they provoke in some people is something I’ve never fully understood. The work can be confrontational, but I think the audience that is more familiar with the work understands the references and what kind of emotions I’m working with. They’re not for everyone, but I guess I’m always hoping they find the people that need to see them. Art that you truly connect with makes you feel less alone, less hopeless. It can also expand your horizons and challenge you to go further and look deeper, at yourself and your surrounds. I hope they do that for people.
What is next for you and your work?
I’m in a cool-off period from the opening of my new exhibition MESMERIC POOL, which is open until the 2nd of July at GAGPROJECTS, but I’m always working on new images. I’ve also been experimenting with AI text to video software and MidJourney, and exploring ways I can incorporate AI into my work in a thoughtful way.
Thank-you GATA team! Was a pleasure to hear from you.
THANK YOU JOSEPH!
Premonition - The Rite of Spring Series
Dusk - Universe Series