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Introducing, “Budding Breast”, a series of screen prints by Orie Wood.
A trans woman and multidisciplinary artist, Orie designs, sews and screen-prints transgressive textiles, with works ranging from lingerie and jockstraps to ironic slogan t-shirts and strap-ons. Her craft is informed by her experiences of gender and transition – beauty and abjection– blurring lines between fine art and fashion.
“I've been interested in the abjection and eroticism generated by transvestites/transsexuals/crossdressers on Flickr. TSs and TVs often embody an abject state when their ultimate goal of self-determination is not conditional of 'passing’, but instead building visibility and representation around trans/queer/crossdressing communities. Defiance and reclamation of gender and sexuality becomes an act of hypereroticism, wherein renegotiating and recontextualising cultural stereotypes we change the meaning of 'body', 'sex', and desire.”
Flickr is an artefact created by its users, some of its popular posters have been generating early-internet style memes around niche fetishes for two decades. This hypersexualised image behind text becomes an archive of TV/TS/CD history.
“My work specifically references Flickr style image making and the plurality of my gender/sexual identity. I'm a sissy boy, a beautiful woman, a pervert, and a transsexual.”
“This work looks at owning your erotic desires and kink manifestations, influenced by dom/sub and trans comics/illustrations. For me, it’s important to show the balanced power dynamics of giving and receiving in a dominant/submissive space.”
“‘Admit it you want a girlfriend with a cock’ is influenced by Flickr-style internet memes. Here bold graphic text is layered over transsexual/transvestite imagery. The text transgresses normal ideas of gender and genitalia. Ownership of our bodies means expansive notions of self, transsexualism and the ‘other’.”
“‘Lovesick’ is about what comes after a breakup, when the intimacy is gone there is still the seed. There are so many fruits that come from my relationship and I wanted to make a work around our love, eroticism and what my body remembers.”
We interviewed the artist to learn more about their relationship with art as a conduit for eliciting and expressing joy.
Passionfruit: As a creative, what is something you wish folks would ask you/never ask you?
Oriette Wood: I really enjoy it when people ask about the work that goes into the art. It's an opportunity to share the references, the people who influence me, and the lessons I've learnt. These are insights that go beyond the tangible work of art, and the brief moments of expression it captures.
P: What’s the best reaction you’ve ever received towards your art/art practice?
OW: There is no greater feeling than eliciting joy in someone. As a trans woman, I feel there is a divine power in reflecting to people a world that exists with unbounded potential. So many inspiring women have shaped me and my practice into what it is today, and to know that those sensations of joy are something I can give back is a truly special part of my art practice.
P: When it comes to rude art, experiences and culture, are there any pieces, you love or are shocked by, that may be censored or missed by other audiences?
OW: I'm really curious about forced-femme fetish comics. There is something that I relate to in these works of abjection and over-the-topness. The excitement/performance of figures bound and contorted by apparatus, imaginations of latex and leather, frilly lace dresses, wigs, and impossible heels. All really crude/vulgar depictions of men degraded into sissy girls. The fantasy fascinates me. Can you tell I'm a sissy?
P: Okay, what’s your favourite sex toy OR sex store experience?
OW: The first time I used a strap-on with my ex-partner. There's so much stigma around transness and sexuality even in something as pleasurable as getting fucked. So as a new formed woman, inundated with dysphoria, I knew something had to change. Using a strap for the first time was truly expansive, I felt so lusted after and so in love.
P: Gigs, gallery shows, performances – what’s next for Oriette Wood?
OW: I’m part of the August 3rd 'Future Foundations' group exhibition at the Counihan Gallery curated by Troppo Print Studio. I will also have a solo show in November at MOM Gallery (@mom_publishing) in Thornbury.
You can follow Orie and her work on Instagram @oriettes__jockstrap