We know that we’ve been teasing about how Seduction is changing, and we’ll be talking about that more soon, but one thing you can count on not going anywhere is the art. Art is central to everything we do – not surprising, really, we are the Seattle Erotic Art Festival – and art will continue to play a pivotal role in Seduction moving forward. Seduction is our opportunity to explore the darker aspects of Eros and bring them to the forefront. So let’s meet the artists that will be taking us on this little journey to the dark side.
Art by Divine Mania
Divine Mania (Francísco D.) is an Oil Painter & Digital Illustrator, based in WA state, he has been painting since 1998. Themes in his artwork frequently include: Nature, Archetype, Myth, Magick, Alchemy, and History.
Francísco’s artworks have been published by Ouroboros Press, and Three Hands Press. Productions include: Art Director of The International Left Hand Path Consortium, Curator for the Seattle Erotic Art Festival: Seduction 2015 and his 2017 self-produced two artist show, HYPERPREDATOR.
A few of his numerous Group shows include LALUZAPALOOZA 2018, The Devils Reign (curated by the High Priest of The Church of Satan) and many inclusions in the Seattle Erotic Art Festival throughout the years. A full list of his exhibitions, publishers, and more of his artwork can be found at his website.
Claire Dietrich is an emerging artist living in Washington but traveling quite frequently. Published for the first time in the Seattle Erotic Art Festival 2018 Anthology and first gallery hanging at last year’s Seduction. Medium and subject matter varies greatly but brings joy to complete art in any form.
Art by Rae Akino
Rae Akino is a Seattle based, self-taught visual artist. What began as a coping mechanism for depression and anxiety became a lens to examine and understand the world. Being closeted, a slave to others expectations, and losing one of the most important people to their existence caused a mental, emotional, and spiritual paralysis. The need to escape turned into isolation, until they were encouraged to draw their way out of it.
Influenced by music, theater, literature, film, life, people, etc; the DC native uses bold colors and expressive form to explore identity, sexuality, Afrocentrism, spirituality, mental health/ awareness, consciousness, and self. Centering the viewer into an emotional, mental, and spiritual connection with themselves opens the door to endless possibilities. Awakening desensitized emotions lead to the questions that spark conversations.
John Santerineross is an American photographer with a background in ceramics and painting. He is considered to be a “neo-symbolist”, an artist that continues or reinterprets the 19th century art movement Symbolism. Like its predecessor, neo-symbolism focuses on the spiritual, the subconscious, and dreams. Santerineross’ unique style and content has inspired an entire new generation of artists; his complex aesthetic is derived from a combination of his exposure to Catholicism and Santeria and by his fascination with Greek mythology, world religions and iconography.
Venus Raven is a London based multidisciplinary artist, working in Theatre, Film, Photography, and Music. Venus explores themes of BDSM & Ritual: Pushing the limits of the physical as it strives to make sense of the ever-fleeting equilibrium between spirit and flesh.
Venus’ performance art credits include appearances in Modern Panic, SPILL Festival, The Flying Dutchman London, The Underdog & Resistance Galleries, and the world’s largest fetish event, Torture Garden. Venus is also the Director of the London Fetish Film Festival. Connect with, and find more artwork from Venus Raven on Social Media.
Koray Kocaturk is the Director of a Haunted Attraction and enjoys mixing traditional horror creatures with intimacy and eroticism. Might be because he himself is a creature of horror mixed with the erotic.
Art by Hiba Jameel
Hiba Jameel’s art serves as a way for her to process her world. Whether it is to fulfill her civic duty by criticizing the political climate or to express the sensitive sensual facets of life through painting flayed beautiful nude figures. Or painting to heal from her childhood wounds and engage others in art making via conducting interactive art events. You will see little glass cups decorated with gold in Hiba’s work, along with some mushroom clouds, gold leaf and lots of nude figures. Hiba uses the traditional tea cup she grew up drinking from as a symbol of her heritage and as a part of her identity. She processes the world around her by painting her experiences, using distinct brush strokes, rich color palate, and exaggerated figures. Her paintings have a luster finish, gold and luminescent hues. The human figure to her is a body of language that she can use to interpret experiences and convey messages.
Jim Duvall was born near Canada and is heavily influenced by the politeness of Canadian institutions such as ice hockey and parliamentary politics. Later in life as network TV reached their rural home, pop culture took over in the forms of Charlies Angels and Happy Days. They dreamed of becoming a combination of Fonzie and Charlie (a faceless voice on a speakerphone, who commanded beautiful, overqualified women). Punk Rock took over their life in 1980 as they strove to lead a life of stigma. Next they traded that stigma for the lonely bitter battles of the cold war defending democracy from the shadows. After a major betrayal by their own country they embarked on a career in porn on this new medium called the WWW and the Mosaic browser. Currently he is a sexuality activist and artist, teaching and taking pictures.
Art by Koray Kocaturk
Michele Serchuk has been shooting evocative, intensely personal erotic portraiture in NYC for over 20 years. Seattle Erotic Arts Festival named her a Master of Erotic art in 2014. She’s exhibited internationally, lectured at the Kinsey institute, & presented across the US & Canada. Her work has been widely published in photo books & as cover art. Michele Serchuk’s erotic imagery explores sexuality, eroticism, and sexual identity in portraits of her subjects’ erotic identity and experience. Sexuality finds expression in physicality, and within our erotic gesture is a visual manifestation of emotional experience, of relationship, and of identity. We embellish our sexuality with symbolism and ritual drawn from our life experiences; it is intimate and deeply personal, a window to the inner self.
Kat Cronn is an Arizona based artist, she has participated in shows in Phoenix and Tucson and is excited to return to Seduction. “The process of creating my sad girls is cathartic; these girls hold my secrets, share my pain, and stand strong for me. I often start out drawing myself, as the work progresses the girls evolve. I let them live a different life from mine, sometimes fantasies, sometimes nightmares; they remain mysterious and I only get to see one scene. They aren’t from highly constructed, fleshed out narratives, the whole drawing comes together to show one moment.”
HooliganLili is Keri Grassl Ziegler, a Web and marketing professional who creates a variety of art in her free time. Her work has been shown at Dirty Little Secrets Art Gallery, Gallery Sesso, Club Privata, Seattle Erotic Art Festival, and private clubs and coffee shops in the area. A native to the Pacific Northwest, Keri currently resides in Portland, Oregon.