Why Now?

Recently, social media platforms have begun changing their terms of service to align with the requirements of legislation that was passed in 2018 called SESTA/FOSTA. These laws were proposed to make it easier to prevent and stop sexual trafficking; however, in reality, it has begun the erasure of all consensual sex work from the internet. This has been coupled, on Instagram at least, with increased allowance of nudity and partial nudity for advertising, artistic purposes and personal use. Essentially, two people could post photos with equivalent nudity, but only the person with an OnlyFans link in their bio would have their content deleted.

This censorship has real, lasting consequences for the people affected. Sites like “Backpage,” which allowed sex workers to screen clients and interact with them virtually, were shut down. Social media platforms are deleting all profiles and pictures in which people are willingly selling images of their own bodies, as the website claims that they cannot easily identify if the person is a victim of trafficking. This process is dangerous for everyone and does not work. If the objective is to protect people from trafficking, then it is especially a sham. After losing safe, online tools for conducting their business, many people were forced to do street based, full-service work with no safety net. Street-based sex workers are the most at risk to endure abuse from clients and to be trafficked or otherwise taken advantage of outside of the terms of their business, as they have no protection. In addition to the risk of client violence, sex workers must contend with a hostile police force. With an integrated online and social platform, sex workers had their visibility and community as protection. Their clients were less willing to commit violence knowing that any misconduct would get them reported and black-listed. These laws also make it more difficult for the authorities to track known human traffickers or incidents, as the sex work community is actually the most involved in noticing and reporting instances of abuse. Now, traffickers just use shadier websites, often foreign based that won’t follow any new regulations and are even more difficult to monitor. 

The three largest social media platforms have begun purging all content that is flagged as “adult solicitation.” In the past two months,  I have seen posts by art models, pole dancers, and sex workers all taken down-- their accounts and all their content deleted. There have even been reports of someone’s accounts being suspended for sexually suggestive direct messages to their partner. Essentially all sexual activity is being equated to sex trafficking. As a victim of sexual violence, who has found deep and gratifying joy in consensual sex and sexual experiences, I find this equation deeply disturbing. It completely minimizes the real damage of violence. They are essentially saying that all sexual activity is bad (morally), and whether you consent or not is unimportant. 

Why Me?

From an artistic standpoint, there has been a long standing debate about the power dynamics inherent in representing the human form. The artist has the power to control how their subjects are presented to the world, and to manipulate the subject’s image in accordance with their artistic vision. Classically, this would entail a male artist painting or photographing a female subject, often as a representation of idealized beauty or allegory. The context of who they were, what control they had over the situation, and their agency is almost never discussed.

In my work, I strive to undermine the traditional power structure between artist and model by centering consent. The people in my paintings are not symbols, subjects, props, or dolls for a grand message, as these modes prioritize concept more than the identity and humanity of the person represented. Each subject is a protagonist, independent of the audience or artist's control, and each piece begins with a conversation, in which the potential person(s)-to-be-painted must enthusiastically consent to wanting to be represented. I put people together like they are mosaics: fragile pieces of color pressed against each other, barely holding meaning or sense. These colors are both contained within and create the larger form-- the whole person. By concentrating on the abstract colors and forms that make up the image, I increase the accuracy and limit my personal implicit biases as much as possible.

I have long admired sex workers as people who have regained control over their image and by extension their bodies and lives. Maybe that is why they are so over policed and restricted. The more unsafe society makes sex work, the more opportunity other people have to take advantage and make profit off of the worker’s labor. It seems a gross hypocrisy that as an artist I am allowed to use someone’s naked image as a reference photo to create a painting and then sell that work, but that person would have the same photo taken down for attempting to sell their own image. Sex workers and artists have a long history of working together. For a long time, they were the only people willing to pose for artists nude so that we could study human anatomy; however, this is not an ideal model as their identity and personhood was erased by a shame-ridden society. 

I would like to use my privilege as an artist, to re-platform sex workers and hopefully connect them with new audiences, while commenting on the ignorance of consent and agency that pervades every layer of society, including the art world.