The nude human form has been a source of artistic inspiration from the dawn of mankind. From cave paintings and the Venus of Willendorf to Michaelangelo’s David, nudity has been represented in a variety of ways throughout history, portraying strength, vulnerability, fertility, and human dignity.
Social media makes accessibility of artwork by both renowned and emerging artists significantly simpler than it was prior to the digital age. Artists can share images of their artwork and processes on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to obtain fans and even achieve sales; however, social media comes with its own problem – censorship. For instance, Facebook gives users the tools with which to control their experience, but also gives everyone the tools to censor each other. Users literally have a choice between “I don’t want to see this anymore,” and, “I don’t want anyone to see this, ever.”
Florida artist Morgan Wilson (aka Lux Nova Studios) suffers from just such #artistproblems with today’s social media community standards. Known predominately for her pervasive sexuality, even a subtle nipple or implied content is regularly banned, resulting in a severe hit to her online fan base.
What kind of comments or backlash have you received regarding your artwork on social media? Have you had your work pulled or your account banned?
The social media backlash to my artwork manifests in different ways. There are always people who feel the need to comment about my work – either by saying they hate it or that anyone who likes it is perverted – in a very combative way. Luckily my friends and fans have yet to engage in any vicious debates, choosing instead to confirm their love for my work.
Instagram is a pretty safe space as the only people who see my posts have found me through hashtags or a business card so they know what they’re walking into, but Facebook is a very different construct. What I believe happens is that one of my followers will like or comment on my work and then it pops up in the newsfeeds of everyone they know, including their conservative aunt and so on. I’ve had my artwork reported on Facebook many times. Most of the time Facebook gives me the option to remove the picture, or they determine that it doesn’t violate their standards.
My art is suggestive, sure, but it’s not abject exploitation. I have had my account suspended at least 5 times for varying durations. the most significant result of this is that my posts are buried so deep within the algorithm that paying to promote doesn’t improve the visibility. In the time that it took me to gain 10,000 Instagram followers, my Facebook page has only grown by 900.
At public events, the most common comment people make is regarding the children who might be exposed to my artwork. I understand that human sexuality can be uncomfortable for people to discuss with their kids – and I know there’s plenty I want to shield my daughter from, too – but I have noticed that the face-to-face comments are generally passed off as trying to protect some other group, but the social media comments are fast to admit that they are the ones who are disgusted.
For anyone who says that “sex sells,” it doesn’t. I posted a picture of Iron Will to my Facebook page as soon as it was completed, and within 3 days, I had lost 17 followers. I was shocked. The image is of a girl made of metal with rusted rivets; it’s not obscene by any means. Her small breasts are exposed and there is rust around her nipples. The pose is fairly standard, nothing really going on. And I lost 17 followers in less than 36 hours.
Recently at MegaCon, on the first day, I had four people who felt the need to comment about an original piece, Dark Ritual, which shows a demonic-looking woman with very large breasts. There was a portrait of a green woman with small breasts right next to her (Venus), but the only thing people wanted to talk about was the large breasts being offensive “to some people here” or “to the children.” No one was willing to own up to what was making them so uncomfortable; but I realized that, in general, large breasts are seen as more obscene.
If sex doesn’t sell, why paint suggestive figures or nudes at all?
I’ve never seen a problem with painting nude subjects. No other artist in history has! The fact is, I’m not a fashion designer. I’m not interested in painting clothing – if it isn’t relevant to the story, why include it?
Has Facebook given you any kind of ultimatum for continuing to post your suggestive art? Have you been threatened to be banned for life?
Every time Facebook has suspended me (although not every report results in a suspension) it comes with a warning that pages that are repeatedly suspended can face permanent deletion. Each time the suspension gets longer–the last one was 2 weeks. The few times I’ve attempted to promote a new item in my Etsy store by paying for increased visibility on Facebook, I’ve been denied at least 2/3 of the time because the items in my shop are considered “adult services or products.” Disputing it gets me nowhere, unfortunately.
What’s the craziest response you’ve received in regards to your artwork?
The craziest responses I get to my art aren’t even the negative comments, those are perfectly acceptable. All artists are accustomed to criticism and the more conceptually strong your work is the fewer people will like it. I’m OK with people thinking my work is gross or inappropriate.
The worst comments I get are from people who think they have some kind of special access to me as a person: Men will frequently comment on how dirty I must be and ask me very personal questions. I get a lot of commission requests from men who want me to paint their fantasies but never produce a deposit because they just want to make me have a conversation about what turns them on. I like that strangers feel safe confiding in me and I even had a ‘confession’ box at my solo show for any anonymous comment or confession (although I’m happy to say this experiment failed to produce any derogatory comments). I take issue with the repeated occurrence of people – especially men – putting me into essentially the same category as a sex object because my artwork deals with sexuality.
In a free society, we should expect to enjoy the maximum level of freedom of expression in the arts, whether as creators or consumers. To put a lid on this creativity diminishes our range of appreciation of the human condition and causes us to constantly edit our expressions and interpretations of it.
Furthermore, why hand people the tools to control their own experience and everyone else’s? The result is some Stanford Experiment shit, where people are handed an amount of arbitrary authority that they can anonymously inflict on other, unwilling people.
Should people be able to report content that actually harms other people and have it be taken seriously? Of course. But there is no rational discussion with people who regard female human nipples as “harmful.”
Why should the standard for what’s acceptable to display in public be dictated by people who are either abusing power (when you have the ability to never see a thing again), or are genuinely so twisted up inside and repressed that the absolute least expression of human sexuality sends them into an offended frenzy(when you have the ability to say no one should see it)?
If seeing a nipple, or reading a swear word or challenging idea is too much for your cultural agoraphobia, maybe it’s time to admit that it’s you who doesn’t belong on social media if you aren’t emotionally equipped to handle things you don’t like?
Because they’re out there. We make goddamn sure of that.
You can follow and see more of Wilson’s art on her Facebook (when it’s not being reported, of course), Instagram, and Etsy.
