celebrated, but judged. Thus do many admirers of art feel con-
strained, as if they can’t apprec-
iate or absorb a piece of art with-
out first assessing it from the most negative stance, which in turn means artists – and espec-
ially erotic artists – are constrain-
ed as their abilities are more often met with disapproval instead of understanding. This is something I feel the British writer Mil Millington expresses in his book Love and Other Near Death Experiences: “Modern Western society is based on order and conformity: it regards creativity
as the path to chaos, and it protects itself by ridiculing those who display it. So, you hide how you feel. You keep it to yourself. Hardly anyone knows how creat-
ive you are, inside”.
This brings me to the point that one can’t help but notice when admiring erotic art in our global-
ised society: the very real and highly visible, subjective analysis of the creators of that erotic art on the part of critics and the media. This is the art industry at work. For example, if a high-
profile photographer pushed boundaries to an extreme point, it’s more than likely the critics would applaud him or her for being so “edgy” and “ground-
breaking”, and the work of that artist would be – although
perhaps not without exception – accepted by the media, the art industry, and the wider world. But if a solo artist, not well known or not already on the cusp of celeb-
rity status, were to create that same piece, I would warrant it would be dismissed and criticised by the critics and the media, and quite possibly even by the auth-
orities with the weight of the law. Here we have a double standard, meaning the over-manufactured products of Hollywood (for example) are praised while inde-
pendent thinkers have their abili-
ties constricted, unable to create outside the standard, boring con-
fines of the mainstream.
I create art because I like to pre-
sent a message to the viewer that is instantaneous, and that draws a spontaneous response from the viewer and gives him or her time to absorb it, even in my absence. I use eroticism in my art because, whether it be those primitive genes or my own hor-
mones, it produces a more pas-
sionate, intense reaction from myself in creating it, and from the viewer of the final piece. So if the audience opts in to view the work,
is open-minded – and I rest ass-
ured that everyone involved in creating the pieces enjoyed the process – I don’t see where there can be any opportunity for oppos-
ition: you can
always look away. 
