Reimagining the Explicit Image: A Discourse on Transgressive Self-Expression and the Fe-male Body

Abstract

My studio practice focuses on the intersection of sexuality and art. More specifically, I am locating my queer identity through a theoretical lens where pleasure, gender, and power come to the forefront in this Thesis. I examine the theories of philosophers Judith Butler and Michel Foucault as it relates to my work. Pornography scholarship of Margret Grebowicz is also an important part of the conversation in linking the sexually explicit image with my own questions regarding sex and art. My investigation into transgressive self-expression led to the formation of the exhibition Pleasure Pusher: Reimagining the Explicit Image.