Well, for anyone that has visited this page before, I've changed the look of this blog a bit and spent some
time trying to get it looking a little nicer- I think the black was bringing me down a little! Hopefully it looks a little cleaner, more inviting and not so dingy now.
In addition to the updated look of the blog I've got a new painting- a quick little pin-up and some even quicker sketches for my new friends at the Pole Dance Academy in Bondi Junction. Check them out at www.poledanceacademy.com.au.
I'll be working with the girls at Pole Dance Academy doing quick live portraits of girls for their hen's nights and parties- I was at the studio today and it was great!
The painting was done in about 2.5 hrs and the sketches are 5 minutes each, using photo reference. Dunno why the blog wants to cascade the images but I can't fix it!
I come in peace. awesome work.
ReplyDeleteI find your work to be really beautiful and compelling. You are obviously very talented. However I feel uncomfortable with your sexualising of the WOMEN in the accompanied text.
ReplyDeleteWhile I would respect the wishes of the women who work as pole dancers if they were OK with being called 'pin ups', I think male artists should refrain from describing women who work in certain professions in sexualising ways for others to consume voraciously.
Pole dancers are not just people to look at. Pole dancers have strength and can use their bodies in ways that non-pole dancers cannot. It's also about what their bodies do, again not just about what they 'look like.'
Hi Doris,
ReplyDeleteFirstly thanks a lot for taking the time to look at and comment on my blog. I appreciate your thoughts and your kind words.
While I agree that the images in question are sexual in nature, I don't see that my description of the work is demeaning to women. I do refer to women as 'girls' a number of times but I use the term in the same way I would use the term 'guys' for men, which is not intended to be disrespectful.
My use of the term 'pin-up' is in reference to the genre of art to which this sort of work belongs. In my opinion, good pin-up art is a celebration of femininity and sexuality.
Throughout the history of the genre, pin-up art has been created by both male and female artists and enjoyed by both male and female viewers.
Some female pin-up artists include:
Zoe Mozert, Pearl Frush and Joyce Ballantyne. There are also contemporary female artists working within the genre, or in related areas. The work of Audrey Kawasaki comes to mind, for example.
In addition to my feelings on the genre, I was personally commissioned to create these works for a group of women who enjoy pin-ups. They specifically instructed me to refer to artists like Gil Elvgren and are big fans of his work.
They also happen to run a pole-dance studio.
I would go further than you do in your comments by saying that male artists should refrain from demeaning women regardless of the woman's profession. I agree that pole dancers are incredibly strong physically and in particular, the women I worked with to create these images also seem like smart businesswomen, generous teachers and good people.
Thanks again for commenting, please feel welcome to comment again in future.