At the Seattle Erotic Art Festival, every artist who gets their work in the exhibition is a winner. Here are the pieces of art that caught the attention of our jury and attendees. Selections are based on: execution, emotions elicited, subject matter, the ability to spark conversations, and the undefinable “This one is my favorite”. Visit these artists’ websites to see more of their work. Remember that some of their work or websites may be NSFW.
Jury Choice Awards
The jury agonizes over which pieces will make up the Seattle Erotic Art Festival Visual Art exhibition each year. And as a reward for their hard work, we ask them to choose three pieces that stand out just a little more than the rest to receive the Jury Choice Award. These artists will return to to the next year’s Festival as Invited Artists.
Art by by B.R. Bradley
“Hot-tie” by B.R. Bradley
Photography
“This piece is one in an entire series titled Shiberri. During a study of basic Shibari, I began to see not only the elegance but the playfulness of the erotic art. In many conversations with tops, bottoms and switches, I was informed that there is an aspect of mental and emotional healing that accompanies the experience of being tied. I began to see parallels in the organic forms and manipulation of bodies and the treatment of food. So many similar organic forms appear in nature, and we know in art that food can often have erotic representation. Additionally, food can have extreme healing capabilities as well as a place in erotic play. The intersection of these two seemingly separate ideals made more and more sense to me the longer I spent with it. The result is a series I adore, that both arouses and delights me.”
Oakland, California based, bisexual artist B. R. Bradley is a multi-medium photographer primarily focused in the Wet Plate Collodion process.
Art by Cath Orain
“Psychedelic Eve” by Cath Orain
Fiber Arts – Lunéville hook hand embroidery and drawing with markers on white cotton organdi
“Becoming a mother is a great adventure. Love, joy, fear, failures and victories, all these are inextricably linked. This embroidery express how women have to change their way of life to become an other, a mother, a she wolf
Born and lives in Paris, France. Embroiderer since 2008. The creative process can bring about a vortex of light and shade in one’s mind and it involves making choices. Cath’s choice was the naked body. And, because fabric and thread are soft and light, because beads and sequins titillate our senses with their sparkling colors, embroidery is a perfect medium to express eroticism. Sparks, blazes and finally fusion…Eroticism fills our body and soul with passion, like Art, it’s a universal language, our tower of Babel.
Art by Armene
“Phlegm VII” by Armene
Photography – Hahnemühle papers print
Olga Zavershinskaya aka “Armene” was born in 1986 in Voronezh, USSR. From 2007 she completely dedicated herself to photography. One of the main topics of her work is the human body, its expression and perfection.
Foundation Award
Each year the Festival purchases one piece of art to add to the Pan Eros Foundation’s permanent collection. The Pan Eros Foundation’s mission is to cultivate and celebrate sexuality. The Foundation’s collection is on a rotating display in Gallery Erato, located at 309 1st Ave S in historic Pioneer Square. Visit the Gallery to enjoy SEAF-caliber art every Thursday noon to 6pm. First Thursdays, Gallery Erato is open until 9pm.
Art by Allen E Cutler
“Curvature” by Allen E. Cutler
Fiber Arts – Embroidery on satin
Allen Cutler is a self taught artist exploring the medium of embroidery. He has been developing a body of work that explores the homoerotic, the male body and sexuality. The work is also an attempt to blur the lines between art and craft, presenting what is for many a challenging subject in a medium that is not challenging and represents old fashioned traditional values. Allen’s work has been seen at The Seattle Erotic Art Festival 2018, the Rochester Erotic Festival 2018, Art+Party at Drama League in NY 2018 and will be seen at the Hive Gallery in Los Angeles early in 2019. Examples of Allen’s work will be seen on the set of the webseries “Extra Room”. See more at extraroomtheshow.com. His work is in many private collections, including that of Sam Smith. Allen’s drawings will be published as an erotic coloring book by Lethe press to be released in June 2019
People’s Choice Awards
Art by Stasia Burrington
More than 1,500 of you casted 4,677 votes at SEAF’s 2019 People’s Choice Award! Festival attendees received 3 tickets (with an extra ticket given to art buyers) and given the opportunity to place their tickets in ballots that matched each piece of visual art in the exhibition. It was a very close race this year but we have our winners. We even have our first instance of a piece of art getting both a Jury and People’s Choice Award!
“Makeout” by Stasia Burrington
Traditional Illustration/Drawing – Ink and Japanese watercolor on watercolor paper
Stasia Burrington grew up in the Pacific Northwest and now lives and works out of her home studio in Seatac, WA.
Art by charles i. letbetter
“Entangled With Her Pleasure” by charles i. letbetter
Photography
“Shibari expert Dewey X leaves the young woman, Haley, entangled in rope much to her wanton delight. The image is born from personal relationships and the desire to allow each to express their own erotic passions.”
A professional photographer with over 34 years experience across a variety of photographic genres. Widely published and well traveled, mr. letbetter’s current works are influenced by the mix of cultures he has experienced and an insatiable curiosity for what can be achieved.
Art by Armene
“Phlegm VII” by Armene
Photography – Hahnemühle papers print
Olga Zavershinskaya aka “Armene” was born in 1986 in Voronezh, USSR. From 2007 she completely dedicated herself to photography. One of the main topics of her work is the human body, its expression and perfection.
Because these artists were your favorite, they are brought back next year as invited artists so that you can continue to see their amazing art.
We love seeing the joy and excitement you have when speaking your voice at the voting boards. Our goal is to continue to do it so as long as you enjoy voting and getting stickers.
See more of the amazing art featured in the SEAF 2019 exhibition here in our Flickr photostream.
Thank you again for your participation and hope to see you at SEAF 2020 over the weekend of April 24th through 26th!