Ropes 1 Painting

Shibari rope practice is not only beautiful to see performed but also a deeply rewarding form of sensual play for both the dominant (top) and subordinate (bottom). Ropes 1 is a closer examination of connecting my vision with my body’s response to the pain of ropes through natural morphine-like pain-inhibiting substances such as enkephalins, dopamine, endorphins and serotonin. I also wanted to illustrate the physical beauty of rope ties on the body and convey the typical amount of pressure that rope bondage has on flesh. (Rope bondage within the BDSM community is a caring, consensual, safe form of intense erotic play that causes no significant damage although like any contact sport, it is not risk-free. It can include psychological dominance and submission, physical bondage, pain or other practices in order for participants to experience sensual arousal and personal growth). In Ropes 1, I had just finished a bondage scene where I was tied and suspended in three different poses over a two-hour period of time. There are removed ropes on the ground behind the figure. There are rope marks on my chest to indicate the amount of pressure sustained from rope ties after they are removed. The remaining red ropes in the painting are still tightly bound to my leg. I have chosen to wear my black stilettos, a black thong and bright red nail polish during the performance. The common subject I am painting is the goddess. All my paintings are discussed and correlated with my own personal time line of how I discovered and learned about the power of the goddess. As a woman who identifies herself as an artist, lover, mystic, healer and everyday goddess, I believe the human body, life on earth and sex are sacred. I cannot empathically connect with nor find sacred female figures in religious artworks that merge both the light and dark aspects of goddess so I am painting my own version of what a goddess might look like.