Exhibition: The Only Thing Keeping Me Alive Is Dreaming

The Only Thing Keeping Me Alive Is Dreaming

at Mana Contemporary 5th fl. 888 Newark Ave. Jersey City NJ 07306

On view through Dec 30, 2024
Visiting hours: by appointment, please email us to schedule your visit: info@monirafoundation.org

Every photo I take is a reflection of my fears, my admirations, and my inability to hold on to life for as long as I would like- which is forever. Documenting, or creating my corner of the queer archive, is a tool for survival. My photography is of queer people living their lives and taking up the space they deserve in the world. I photograph the chaos of a wig falling off, the bravery of trans youth finding themselves through performance, the strength I am given through an eyelash flying through the air in a room full of people at a drag show. I create this work hoping that it will exist long after we’re gone as a testament of our struggle and survival as marginalized people and to show the beauty of our community.

About the artist:

Saint Piñero (b.1995, Staten Island, NY) is a queer, Afro-indigenous photographer and curator based in South Brooklyn. Their work is a meditation on memory, the queer archive, and transience. They are the co-founder of Film Diary NYC, a film festival for personal documentary and home movies. Saint has been an artist-in-residence at Aquarium Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Visual Studies Workshop’s Project Space Residency in Rochester, NY, and at TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image in Philadelphia, PA. Their work has been featured in the New York Times, Artsy, FADER, My Comrade, and PIX. They curate an ongoing series of group photo shows at Millennium Film Workshop, where they are a member of the programming board.

This program is generously supported by the national Endowment for the Arts.