Samantha Paradise

My work speaks to the intimacy of individual pleasure. I separate the societal barriers of what private and public pleasure should be. The techniques used convey the same kind of physical consistency of sex. It is wet and sensuous, it is physical. By bringing pornography that is usually consumed in...

My work speaks to the intimacy of individual pleasure. I separate the societal barriers of what private and public pleasure should be. The techniques used convey the same kind of physical consistency of sex. It is wet and sensuous, it is physical. By bringing pornography that is usually consumed in the privacy of one’s own home to the public eye, one has to become accustomed to viewing these works with the added pressure of being in a public space. The same ideas follow when using the sexualized photographs of models which are viewed daily and seem to have no response with the viewer. These images which would not cause an exorbitant amount of shame alone are amplified by the context of viewing the work with others around. The fear of judgement causing unease and anxiety in the viewer. Using pornography and models as a reference for my work tends to humanize the actors and models that participate in the sex franchise bringing the added aspect of humanity to the pornography. These paintings elevate the individuals in the work by the reproduction while encouraging the extremes that are found in both the human experience and the sexuality of the individual.