As some of you may be aware, I am an artist. I've been a working artist for much of the last fifteen years, and I'm currently doing undergraduate work for a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art, with a focus on painting. I've shown off a little bit of my work in the Art thread in Random Discussion.
I've been involved over the past year with exploring the concepts of idealism and objectification, and the bridge between pornography and art. It's been a hard subject to get my head around, but I think I've made a breakthrough this week in how I want to approach it, and I would like the help of any willing models. To put it as succinctly as possible, I want to do a series of diptychs (two-images that are paired together as a single work) wherein one image is a portrait of a model's face, and the second image is a faceless and erotic image of the model's body. The idea is to draw attention to the way we separate the image of a person from that person's being, especially when that person is sexually engaged.
This is not some attempt at cheesecake. This is not some strange scam to try to get anything from anyone. This is a long-term academic consideration, and one which I've been steeped in, as I've stated, for about a year already. Up until now, I have not been successful in getting a handle on the concept or how to portray it as art, so you might imagine that, to me, this is a serious matter that I want to see through.
Given the nature of the subject, I'm looking for volunteers who are willing to let me use their likeness as it relates to performing their job as cam models. All I would need is permission to make paintings of their likeness, but that permission and willingness on the model's part is crucial to the success of my work for various reasons -- some legal, but mostly conceptual. Visually, there shouldn't be anything I need that I can't get just by visiting a model's public chat space. I'm not looking for privates or handouts or any special treatment otherwise.
What I can exchange in return for participation in this is artwork. I will make a watercolor and ink painting just for you. It can be a portrait of you, or you can feel free to make a request. I can even send you the work! I can upload the gift works to my MFC profile gallery and Twitter, so people can have a look. As for the project work itself, since this is an ongoing and long-term exploration of a subject, within the confines of an academic setting, and I don't really know exactly where it will lead me, I don't have any intention of profiting from my work. Honestly, I don't even have much intention to display it online, although I can start a progress thread here or in an appropriate off-topic forum, so that everyone can see how this project is going. Again, this is not something I'm approaching lightly, and as such, I've been pretty guarded about even discussing it with peers and mentors while I try to work it out. Now, though, I'm ready to begin in earnest as soon as possible, and I expect that it will take up most of my creative energy through the summer, if not longer. This is as ambitious a single project as I've ever undertaken, and having willing subjects will go a long way toward my success, I think.
Ideally, it would be nice to get at least ten models on board, but more would be better. You have my word that I'll be respectful and mindful of you and the job you do. This project isn't about shaming sex workers or holding them up as freaks or kitsch subject matter. Respect and real meditation on the concepts I've presented are of the utmost importance to me.
If you have questions or concerns, feel free to ask, although I do caution you that talking too much about a project can kill the drive to actually do it, so I don't want to discuss this to death, if that's at all possible. That's part of the reason why this is such a long post to begin with -- I'm laying my cards on the table so that I don't have to spend the next three pages defending the motives behind an unusual request. I'm perfectly happy to elaborate on the concept -- why I'm doing it, what got me here, the problems I've had until now, and so on, if you are curious. Stand warned, though, that this is a request for participants and a discussion about feelings on the subjects I intend to present. It is not a thread where I'm willing to debate or defend the merits or direction of this project, specifically. I'm hoping that my standing as an active member of this forum will afford me a bit of the benefit of the doubt about my character (and hence why I've decided to bring this request to AFC as a community, rather than approaching individual models.)
That's about all I've got for now. I'd love to get some preliminary work done this weekend, so my fingers are crossed that a few models here might like the idea. Thanks for reading such a big post!
I've been involved over the past year with exploring the concepts of idealism and objectification, and the bridge between pornography and art. It's been a hard subject to get my head around, but I think I've made a breakthrough this week in how I want to approach it, and I would like the help of any willing models. To put it as succinctly as possible, I want to do a series of diptychs (two-images that are paired together as a single work) wherein one image is a portrait of a model's face, and the second image is a faceless and erotic image of the model's body. The idea is to draw attention to the way we separate the image of a person from that person's being, especially when that person is sexually engaged.
This is not some attempt at cheesecake. This is not some strange scam to try to get anything from anyone. This is a long-term academic consideration, and one which I've been steeped in, as I've stated, for about a year already. Up until now, I have not been successful in getting a handle on the concept or how to portray it as art, so you might imagine that, to me, this is a serious matter that I want to see through.
Given the nature of the subject, I'm looking for volunteers who are willing to let me use their likeness as it relates to performing their job as cam models. All I would need is permission to make paintings of their likeness, but that permission and willingness on the model's part is crucial to the success of my work for various reasons -- some legal, but mostly conceptual. Visually, there shouldn't be anything I need that I can't get just by visiting a model's public chat space. I'm not looking for privates or handouts or any special treatment otherwise.
What I can exchange in return for participation in this is artwork. I will make a watercolor and ink painting just for you. It can be a portrait of you, or you can feel free to make a request. I can even send you the work! I can upload the gift works to my MFC profile gallery and Twitter, so people can have a look. As for the project work itself, since this is an ongoing and long-term exploration of a subject, within the confines of an academic setting, and I don't really know exactly where it will lead me, I don't have any intention of profiting from my work. Honestly, I don't even have much intention to display it online, although I can start a progress thread here or in an appropriate off-topic forum, so that everyone can see how this project is going. Again, this is not something I'm approaching lightly, and as such, I've been pretty guarded about even discussing it with peers and mentors while I try to work it out. Now, though, I'm ready to begin in earnest as soon as possible, and I expect that it will take up most of my creative energy through the summer, if not longer. This is as ambitious a single project as I've ever undertaken, and having willing subjects will go a long way toward my success, I think.
Ideally, it would be nice to get at least ten models on board, but more would be better. You have my word that I'll be respectful and mindful of you and the job you do. This project isn't about shaming sex workers or holding them up as freaks or kitsch subject matter. Respect and real meditation on the concepts I've presented are of the utmost importance to me.
If you have questions or concerns, feel free to ask, although I do caution you that talking too much about a project can kill the drive to actually do it, so I don't want to discuss this to death, if that's at all possible. That's part of the reason why this is such a long post to begin with -- I'm laying my cards on the table so that I don't have to spend the next three pages defending the motives behind an unusual request. I'm perfectly happy to elaborate on the concept -- why I'm doing it, what got me here, the problems I've had until now, and so on, if you are curious. Stand warned, though, that this is a request for participants and a discussion about feelings on the subjects I intend to present. It is not a thread where I'm willing to debate or defend the merits or direction of this project, specifically. I'm hoping that my standing as an active member of this forum will afford me a bit of the benefit of the doubt about my character (and hence why I've decided to bring this request to AFC as a community, rather than approaching individual models.)
That's about all I've got for now. I'd love to get some preliminary work done this weekend, so my fingers are crossed that a few models here might like the idea. Thanks for reading such a big post!
