Artist Brendan Fernandes on ballet and BDSM

Artist Brendan Fernandes had a life-changing break-up at 21. Not unlike most heartbreaks, however, his was a formative one – the ‘bliss in disguise’ kind that later proved him life works in strange ways. ‘When I was told my body was not equipped for professional ballet, I realised dance and I were through and we would never cross paths again,’ he now remembers. It was this parting of ways with dance in 2006 and starting the prestigious Whitney Independent Study program in New York that helped the Kenyan-Canadian artist craft his unique art practice. Today, Fernandes is known for creating multidisciplinary artworks that challenge the single experience of sculpture, performance or BDSM.