Sex Worker Still Life, 2020
Hand embroidery on calico, 15.5cm x 26cm
A commission made for Decriminalised Futures exhibition at The ICA curated by SWARM.
This embroidery is something I’m so proud of, it is a still life of sex workers to honour the community and tenderness which only we feel/know. Part of the brief for this project was responding to resources from a previous festival by SWARM of discussions and panel talks on subjects relating to surveillance, colonialism, disability, capitalism, racism, legislation and resources. When designing this piece I struggled to know how to represent something that was so important to me, because the reality is quite negative as far as the reasons why people are forced into sex work e.g. poverty and reasons listed above. My art style is bold, colourful, and seemingly positive upon first look, with layers of meaning becoming clear the longer you look and dissect the individual motifs as well as their relation to one another. The still life features many references to history, an ancient Greek vase with gay lovers on it, a mother and child portrait representing the sexist notion that if you dont fit into the mother or the virgin stereotypes of women you are a whore, as well as books, paperwork scrolls, a globe, a stone statue with breasts and penis and a mask. Skull candle represents a memorial for all sex workers who have been killed who have never been brought to justice, good luck written in lipstick on the mirror and I love you text or a small tender moment to show this sex worker is cared for and part of a community. I have a walking stick balanced on the edge of the table because many disabled people choose to work in the sex industry because it fits best around the pain or ailments and they can earn more money for a short amount of time giving us more freedom.
I feel incredible kinship and community with all sex workers across the globe who are forced into sex work because it is the best choice financially and with the lifestyle which may mean they are disabled or single mums or Trans people who are pushed out of society. The criminalisation and fake moral superiority endangers sex workers, people speak over us, infantilise and patronise us and make decisions which leads to violence at our expense. Global institutions of state powers should have no place in consenting adults selling services, when you bring up trafficking in these conversations it does no good for anyone, not victims of illegal trafficking, nor consensual service providers who should have autonomy and agency over their body and choices. In Capitalism all aspects of labour are exploitative whether you work in front of house or in factories, in retail, hospitality no matter the industry workers are exploited by low pay and long hours. Sex workers want to be a part of the labour rights movement which is why the term “sex work is work” is so often used.
I got the opportunity to host an online embroidery workshop where we created our own Still Lifes. I created a video tutorial as well as illustrated instructions.
