The Church of Our Becoming: Courtyard, Dover Street Market Paris

The Church of Our Becoming reclaims and reimagines classical ideals of the human form in Greek statuary. Photographed with a thermal camera, known for its usage by the military, which sees heat and probes beneath the skin. Mahr’s portraits instead capture the radiance of living bodies — trans, non-binary, otherwise fluid, or not at all — rendering equality as energy, not category and encouraging a more expansive and inclusive vision of humanity.

The installation presents a series of thirteen portraits, each standing up to three and a half meters tall. Positioned along the pillars of Dover Street Market, these quietly imposing figures draw on the gestures of classical sculpture. Together, they create a contemplative passage through the space, inviting viewers to move among them and engage with the work on an intimate scale.

“Greek sculptors invented muscle groups to idealise men or sculpted demure women into passivity and we’re still haunted by those ideals today in everything from fashion to advertising. This work draws its force not from confrontation, but from intimacy. It presents classical form as a story we can rewrite — together and differently. Here is beauty and it happens when we no longer take gender or identity as givens.”

– Yulia Mahr