Sexuality

Time to talk about sex and art <*_*>  Yeah!  First of all I have to give a little background to myself.  I'm a devout Christian, which is part of the reason I chose saint02 as my artist name.  And, that may seem hypocritical to many people out there.  Most Christian illustrators just retell old Biblical stories and keep things family oriented.  However, if you have ever read the Bible cover to cover as I have, you will find many situations and stories that aren't family safe.  It's a story, and as I believe Truth, about life, and stories of sex and violence are in the Bible.  I've thought about this a great deal, what I want to illustrate and what I don't.  What I've learned is illustrating is no different than writing.  Writers and illustrators tell stories, and are continually learning to perfect that craft of story telling.  Both strive to convey emotions and with each work the artist/writer is communicating an idea or purpose.  However, like the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.  And, for this reason illustrations what ever the content are very vocal and powerful in communicating.  I think this is probably the reason people are perhaps more strict with what is seen rather than what is read, though both are simply means of communication.

Back some years ago, I would always think about justifying everything, and unfortunately I still do a bit.  I thought so much about what type of artist I want to be and what I wanted to say through my art.  In the end I came up with the notion that for me, it wasn't going to be about justifying anything.  But, simply, what story needs to be told?  Who is it being told to?  And, what is the best way of communicating that idea?  I know that to convey certain stories as an illustrator I will be illustrating violence, sexuality, and the boat load of all the other human conditions and emotions.  However, as an artist trying to convey particular emotions I can't help but being some what caught up with that emotion.  It's grieving for me to try and work on a violent scene or sadness.  I feel personally that some things should not be watered down or censored and at the same time some things need to be handled with care and respect to the audience. 

That is my approach to sexuality in art.  Sex is not wrong by no means at all, but it has it's own place in life.  I don't think it should be paraded in public so openly for even children to see, but I think people shouldn't be afraid of sexuality and simply enjoy it in the place God has placed it.  Even God has provided the Song of Solomon which is entirely about sexuality, but in accordance to custom children weren't allowed to read it until they were deemed old enough for the birds and the bees speech.

This is just my perspective on the matter.  I hope it gives some inspiring ideas to others out there and especially you artists and writers out there.  We should all spend some time thinking about what we do and what for.  Everyone should keep in mind some sort of social responsibility to everything they do - environmentally, socially, morally... it's just wise to do.