Eroticism

Aesthetic or literary focus on sexual desire.

Anticipation.

"Man goes constantly in fear of himself. His erotic urges terrify him." - Georges Bataille, writer/philosopher

Mahon, Alyce. Eroticism and Art. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005. Alyce Mahon focuses primarily on the last 150 years of art and the debates surrounding erotica. The book explores the ideas surrounding the boundaries between art and pornography.


I have very mixed feelings about the word "erotic." The internet is likely to blame for this, but when I hear the word I immediately think of cheap vinyl costumes, black lipstick and bad photography. I am not interested in photographs which are only meant to serve to purpose of arousal. It all strikes me as cliche and boring. But put in a different context, eroticism can be very interesting. And there are so many facets to it that it might have nothing to do, in the end, with stirring sexual response.

I would never describe my work at erotic. There is no intent on my part to create images for the purpose of base sexual thought. However, it'd be a lie to say sexuality does not play a part in much of my work. I have become fixated on creating work which deals with my Catholic upbringing, primarily the struggle it created at puberty. But approaching, discussing, and dealing with sexuality through artwork is on a whole different plane than creating images which, to put it bluntly, get people off. I wish to continue exploring those lines.