On Thursday, August 29th, we invite you to another Salon of SEAF event. Master of Erotic Art, Michele Serchuk is traveling from New York City to open up her joint show, This Fetish, with an artist talk. Salons have long been gatherings of like-minded people sharing ideas and connecting. The Seattle Erotic Art Festival follows this grand tradition of creating spaces for people to meet, talk, and share conversation and ideas.
We are pleased to showcase Michele’s sublime photographs with the bold, colorful paintings by Rae Akino in the art show, This Fetish.
fet·ish: /ˈfediSH/ or \ˈfe-tish or /ˈfetɪʃ/
- an inanimate object worshiped for its supposed magical powers or because it is considered to be inhabited by a spirit.
- a form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an unusual degree to a particular object, item of clothing, part of the body, activity.
- an extremely strong devotion to something.
- heightened erotic desire and gratification in the presence of the fetishized object.
- the eroticization of usually mundane objects.
THIS FETISH:
Something not usually eroticized but which elicits a heightened erotic response from my subject. It tugs at their sensual awareness, causes their breath to catch, revealing part of their sexual self.
These photos explore that revelation, creating a portrait capturing the subjects’ relationship to fetish.
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.
From the artist
Sixteen years ago, Midori and I did a shoot about fetish objects. It was a much more personal take on the typical, formulaic “fetish photography” that was (and still is) out there at the time—mainly sexy images of women wearing things marketed as “fetish.” Our creative direction for the day was to make images about things that Midori had a personal connection to; she brought a selection of gloves, boots, latex, shoes, stockings, and a razor.
It was a great shoot and I got two of my all time favorite images from it. But while I did shoot a couple of images here and there over the years as part of other projects that fit into this series, I didn’t really think about doing another full set until almost 13 years later. Mollena and I were talking about what we’d like to shoot next and I’d been thinking about shooting more of these personal fetish images. Mollena suggested doing something about service and we came up with the idea of shooting it without the person being served in the image. Well, there’s a challenge. I think we did quite well with it. The image that came from that shoot showed at Seattle Erotic Art Festival and is part of the Pan Eros Foundation’s private collection.
So, then I had two sets and a couple of other images for the series, but not really enough to make a gallery from. Then, last summer, Carin and I were in a secret location with a giant window across from a construction site and the next set presented itself, just like that: The Window.
I present, This Fetish. These images differ from my usual portraits in that they are often more about the fetishized object than the person being photographed, although my hope is to also capture something of the relationship my subject has with their object of desire. I’m still exploring this as a concept, so we’ll see where it goes. In the meantime, please let me know if I should be shooting something with you.
Thursday, August 29th
This Fetish – Discussion with artist Michele Serchuk
Come explore and discuss the idea that our inner most desires is part of what shapes how we move in the world. We look forward to your participation in the conversation. Gallery hours begin at noon and are extended through 8:30pm. Talk begins at 7pm.
Gallery Erato
The art of This Fetish will be on display in Gallery Erato August 29th through October 1st. Gallery Erato is open to the public every Thursday from noon until 6pm and by appointment. Gallery hours are extended to 9pm every first Thursday for the Pioneer Square Art Walk. All works of art are available for sale. See Gallery staff for help or questions. Gallery Erato is located at 309 1st Ave S. Seattle, WA 98104.
Featured image:
This Fetish: Boots & Latex / Subject: Midori
© Michele Serchuk 2002