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Quoting rick from his tumblr account on April 27, 2017:
A little bit more on changing my stance on adult art:
One of the most difficult things about coming into oneself as an artist is learning to trust your *own* judgment. It is absolutely critical in all things to not be at war with yourself.
I came to this realization at least around 2013 when I gave up the pretense of being not-bisexual, even though I’d been wrestling with forms of it for years. I mean, my decision in 2013 didn’t change me overnight. I didn’t BECOME bisexual at that point, I was already.
And the main problem is there’s a large number of people who treat it like the obvious step, and will berate you not only before, but after, taking the step, not because they disagree with it, but because they agree and feel the need to act all smug and do a victory lap as though they played a part in forcing me to become more like them.
Well, they didn’t. And those people are, to a degree, one of the MAIN reasons it took so long to take the step, despite the fact I’d been ready to do so for years.
The other reason was that it has always been important to me to have a good reason for doing what I do, and it wasn’t until that recently I broke away from my old line of thinking and started becoming congruous with a new line of thinking. And it’s not even in the vein of “the naked body is shamefulâ€; I’ve NEVER thought that, honestly, and vehemently disagreed with anyone who thought otherwise. (I had been guilt-tripped over it in the past, but never was given A Good Reason to believe nakedness, by itself, should be a Bad Thing, rather than just something society has foisted upon itself, similar to how it chooses which words are too naughty. So I just stopped expressing my opinion on the subject.)
The question I wrestled with was “is this TOO MUCH for my audience?“ Because I don’t hate the fans of mine who ARE turned off by nudity and think that it should not be a part of my brand when I worked so hard to make something family-friendly. And indeed, early on when I was making Housepets I went overboard, worrying that my brand might be tainted if I was in the vicinity of adult art, as though I would personally be blamed for what other people do with what I’ve made.
But that never happened. And over time I started realizing that it could be kept separate. I COULD do both and it not be considered a “failing†on my part.
That’s where the pigeonhole came in.
I’ve always wanted to do BOTH. I want to make stuff that can be shared by everyone regardless of who they are, but also I believe that there’s VALUE to the more mature side of art. Namely that what we label “mature†is often that which is emotionally raw and honest, and we are barred from it because emotional honesty is considered shameful. I don’t just want to leave the exploration of that idea to everyone else when it is, and has been, important to *me*.
And some people are already scoffing and saying “ugh! You don’t need to JUSTIFY liking dicks and/or boobs, you just do it cause you’re a pervert like me!†But, I kinda do? (Besides, what is “I am a pervert†but a statement of justification?) Even if some people don’t necessarily mean it like that, my desire to do more mature art doesn’t mean I’ve philosophically decided to become a nihilistic hedonist as such a statement suggests.
It’s hard to completely sum up my artist experience, what precisely drives me to tell stories, even stories as small as a single picture, and convey ideas and meaning I feel is important. That’s ART; it’s a pursuit. And it’s something I need to explore in many forms, even if it’s trivial.
(One of my stances on art, for instance, is much like my stance on technology: if you want to use it for important things, then allowing it for trivial things brings the cost of investment down. I’m not saving it up for “the most important piece of art that requires nudityâ€, I am investing in its potential existence.)
So, yeah. I haven’t abandoned anything previous to this change. I still think it’s very important to do stuff that’s “family friendly†(for a given definition of such) because I understand the importance of it, even if I don’t always agree with what’s necessary to keep from inadvertent harm.
What’s important, in any case, is that I need to learn to trust my own judgment in these matters, make my own mistakes, and stop hanging onto the words of doomsayers (whichever side they may be on). I’m not advocating for war, debauchery and broken homes–just SOME art that’s a little more viscerally honest.
Edited at 2017/06/26 20:10:01
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