Boys Don't Cry. Boys are tough. Boys lead. Boys dress sharp.... The finale room of the Fashioning Masculinity exhibition at the V&A was about turning these tired stereotypes on their head with a film installation piece that would spark joy in the viewer. It is choreography-based and about the future of masculine identity, and how a more optimistic and inclusive view of genders is unfolding. My film touches on the idealisation of the male body, but also on the fragility of masculinity when it is based on limiting ideas. On a personal level I have been wanting to move into installation filmmaking for a while, and this was a bit of a dream brief for a museum that I have long admired. I wanted to work in a visually stripped back world, having spent the pandemic being quite messy in my film, animation and collage work. To come back to what can work and be beautiful in its purest form.

Quentin Jones is a director, animator, illustrator, and photographer from London, based in New York. Quentin illustrates and animates every film she directs, imbuing each project with a hand-crafted, fine art sensibility. She pioneered an entirely original approach to filmmaking and photography, and her work is endlessly referenced and imitated. Her ability to combine collaged, stop-motion illustrations and animated cutouts with live action footage is unique among her filmmaking peers, and has led to collaborations with a wide array of artists and brands, from Miley Cyrus, Rita Ora, and the Kardashians, to Carolina Herrera, Instagram, Adidas, Chanel, and Kenzo.