Quickly enough I found out that it disturbed many people. From time to time some of my paintings were banned from internet gall-
eries and some even were taken off walls during my exhibitions – without even politely proposing that I at least exchange the off-
ending painting for another, less “offensive” one. “Pornography” is the key word that kept on coming back to me, and no matter how hard I tried to explain in a clear and simple way that it had noth-
ing to do with the porn industry, there was nothing I could do. Now by saying that, I don’t judge anybody or any industry, it’s just that for me an orange is not an apple even if it’s round. Yes, we can say “Well, they’re both fruit”; and so they are, but they don’t taste the same or look the same, and that’s what makes them different.

At first, I took these comments very lightly – and continued to ignore what was about to cause me deep disappointment and frustration, which was the real-
isation that maybe, after all, we live in a world of hypocrites. It turned out that it was more ex-
hausting explaining over and over again the whys and the hows of my erotic art than creating all the paintings and building the art shows in the first place. It had to stop, at least in my own mind; I

had to draw an invisible line over which no destructive critics could trespass. So I decided to study the history and origins of the erotic art world from different times and cultures. I realised how complex it was and how there was, and is, much to be learned. Over the years I had the chance to meet artists, photographers and even some writers of all ages and from many cultures that were going through the same process. When speaking with some of them, some confessed that the social pressure was too much and they had decided they would just quit so they wouldn’t be accused of being a pervert, or, in some cases, worse.

Hearing stories like that took me to another level of thinking. Many questions came to mind. What would I do if one day my work would publicly be associated with something that I’m not? How would I cope with the pressure? How would I unashamedly com-
bine my erotic art with my non-
erotic art in one portfolio under my name, to proudly show all my work with a united perspective? I must admit there was a time when the idea of never painting another nude came to mind. Later, I went through a stretch of many years in which I produced no erotic art nor even considered it. During that time I amassed