Sly Morikawa
︎︎︎ Site


Heaven Doesn’t Want Me

June 2022

The following projects was supported by Create NSW




"Sly Morikawa’s ‘Heaven Doesn’t Want Me’ invites us to suspend morality and reflect on our desire for the forbidden. A continuation of her zine, ‘Born Under a Bad Sign’, released with Catalogue Library in 2021, this series develops her ongoing study of sex, subculture and self.

For Morikawa, beauty and unorthodoxy are inextricable. Her photographs reveal an enchantment with the underground, the taboo, the freak. Through her lens, we see the outsider rendered vulnerable and human. The inherent softness of her work further conveys a sense of stillness and peace amid disorder.

This series of photographs examines intimacy and exposes our primal connection to others. The works capture feelings of tenderness and purity alongside moments of corruption, allowing the audience to be seduced by the allure of the perverse.

‘Heaven Doesn’t Want Me’ suggests that there is freedom to be found in chaos. Goodness is overrated. Angels are sexy. Authority is fragile; disregard the rules. What need have I of Heaven when I am not of Earth?" - Lucy White (@lucid_wife)





Soundtrack by Gillielove

Poster by Lois Morton Chong