For the last few years, my work has had some relation to identity as a theme, and this animated film is no different. With The Catalyst I wanted to take one of the core pieces of my identity, a gay man, and push it somewhere I had not before. I wanted to playfully push the limits of male nudity and eroticism in my film to illustrate an unconventional journey of coming to terms with one’s sexual identity.
I decided to make my film so bold due to the general reception male nudity and eroticism receives in such contexts; usually with laughter or disgust, so I decided to embrace that in its entirety and create a spectacle out of it.
Am yr ychydig flynyddoedd diwethaf, mae thema fy ngwaith wedi ymwneud â hunaniaeth ar ryw ffurf, ac mae’r ffilm animeiddiedig hon yn dilyn yr un trywydd. Gyda “The Catalyst”, roeddwn eisiau cymryd un o elfennau craidd fy hunaniaeth, dyn hoyw, a’i wthio i rywle nad oeddwn wedi gwneud o’r blaen. Roeddwn eisiau gwthio terfynau noethni ac erotiaeth gwrywaidd yn fy ffilm mewn modd chwareus, er mwyn dangos taith anghonfensiynol unigolyn yn dod i delerau â’i hunaniaeth rywiol.
Penderfynais greu ffilm mor feiddgar yn sgil sut mae noethni ac erotiaeth gwrywaidd yn cael ei dderbyn mewn cyd-destunau o’r fath; fel arfer gyda chwerthin neu ffieidd-dod, felly penderfynais gofleidio hynny yn llwyr a chreu gwledd weledol allan ohono.
