For Celin, the search for beauty means embracing the diversity of humanity, something that inherently runs up against the gate-kept standards of the fashion and art world. Even within the queer community, beauty ideals can still be strict and harmful. As Celin says, “We live with this Adonis complex that is so toxic, it fuels insecurities and means comparisons and body dysmorphia. You know what? Fuck that shit.” So, Celin paints his subjects to represent humanity’s diverse range of bodies. In the moonlight bath of his nocturnal compositions, his subjects often tenderly embrace one another with undulating, fluid limbs.
Celin’s paintings are often deeply intimate. As he frequently says, “Everything is a self-portrait” and thus is inspired by his own experiences with lovers both past and present. He works through his own emotions on canvases full of life and drama. Often, it takes time before he is ready to approach a period of his life, but when he is ready, the results are breathtaking. His work is inviting, recalling emotions we have all experienced in one form or another, and yet also grounded in his own specific experiences and memories. Celin holds the almost magical ability to make contact with a viewer’s soul through his paintings. His work has landed him the attention of top galleries and now also fashion houses. This past year, Celin was invited to take part in the Valentino On Canvas advertising campaign. Here he candidly speaks about his work, his approach to making art as an essential life process and becoming the artist he has always dreamed of being.