Prohibited Pleasures

A poem written by Megan Wallace, the talented founder and editor of Spectrum Zine, an online publication testing the boundaries of where queer feminism can go. The words were inspired by Rossetti’s Goblin Market, a literary gem in erotic poetry that is swathed in metaphor.

I created three panels illustrating the poem that are intended to be read in a cycle- endlessly repeating.

As we walked hand-in-hand and silent,
basking in the streetlamp’s judgmental glare,
I would watch the interlocking shapes of our shadows
keeping time on the pavement.


~
Later, I traced eternity with my eyes shut,
following the outlines of your body
as we lay in the wrinkled sheets
of my single bed.


~
And now,
I will lay my body down,
As offering
As sacrifice
As feast.


~
I will stretch my legs out
as wide as they will go
I will wrap my arms around you
to form a bridge
between then and now

Check out Megan’s beautiful Instagram- @_go_fish

This work is featured in the newest edition of Spectrum- https://spectrumfeministzine.com/2017/02/13/our-new-issue/

Affection or the lack of

This piece was requested by a friend, after I babbled at her about the greatness of recording something once hurtful in a drawing- for me when I doodle like this- the painful event becomes something distant and other than myself.

” Can you not show your affection so much, when I am trying hard to care less “

To assume is to make an ass out of you, and me.

This piece was inspired by the idea that although there has been much advancement in the discussion of gender theory and non-binary identities in particular, some assumptions still prevail, even within the LGBTQ community. The idea that a girl with a shaved head must be a lesbian, although a laughable concept, still exists. Assumptions build barriers and alienate individuals from the community, the illustration was inspired by Victorian profiles and represents two figures that identify as non-binary, yet have very different ‘aesthetics’, their actual identity differs from the assumptions people carry with them about these figures.

The most progressive thing you can do, is to never assume and we will only reach true liberation when no-one needs to declare anything, because we treat everyone as human, with no assumptions clouding the way.

This piece is featured in the first issue of Spectrum, a feminist queer zine seeking to question and break down barriers of all kinds for all people.

Check it out here- https://spectrumfeministzine.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/spectrum-issue-14.pdf

Re-write the narrative. Free the nipple.

 

My friend Mayowa, the editor and creator of Venus Magazine tasked me with creating images based on the Free the nipple campaign. Usually my work is tongue in cheek and especially in regards to movements like this one, but the challenge of drawing to a brief was something I wanted to accept!

As an art-historian, representations of the male and female body have always interested me and in particular the images and ideals that are perpetuated by the classical canon. So, in this work, I decided to mimic the classic torsos of white marble statues, forms which are heralded as ‘physical perfection’ and manipluate them to prove a point. The male figure as a nude is within the socially accepted area of the mustard circle, yet the female figure is outside social acceptance. Because of a tiny bit of skin that the male form has too! The Nipple!!

Re-write the narrative. Free the nipple.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Check out Venus mag- http://www.venusfems.com/about-venus#!