Everyday, wherever we might be, we are surrounded by sex; be it in the media, advertising, fashion, or art, there’s no escaping it. This daily bombardment has helped usher in an era of increased sexual liberty and diversity, where entire communities that fell victims to discrimination have been able to find their place in society, at least in the more liberal cities. But there’s still a lot of work to do before we can live in an inclusive, equal world, starting with putting an end to the objectification of women and their portrayal as submissive objects of male desire.
Our societal discourse towards female sexuality is not one of celebration, but of judgement. Ads that feature women as passive entities that serve the desire of men are the best examples of this, so when you find artists that stand up to these portrayals and find ways to empower women by encouraging sexual freedom and expression, they must be celebrated. Sam Mahdu is one of those artists.
Two purple fingers float towards a pink curtain, which opens slightly, revealing a starry night sky in which a smiling emoji floats upside down. In the next illustration, a blue man stands next to a similar pink opening, his hand reaching out as though trying to find a hidden doorknob. Both images are charged with obvious sexual innuendo. The first one seems to emulate a vulva being stimulated by a female hand, while the second vulva finds pleasure in a miniature man, about to casually stroll into it. Sam Madhu is a young Indian American designer currently living in Brooklyn, NYC, her work features scenes of contemporary life, playful portrayals of her daily activities, and colorful celebrations of her Indian heritage.
Her Instagram profile is filled with funny illustrations drawn by what seems to be a very extroverted young woman, one with an artistic talent that helps her celebrate her culture and contemporary sexuality with a fresh and delightful approach. Her humorous depictions of young lust are grounded in our present day culture, in which apps and gadgets have become powerful tools for seduction. She takes these ingredients and mixes them with surreal elements that serve as obvious symbols of sex and masturbation. There is no perceptible shyness in her characters: strong, confident women who decide to act on their sexual desires.
The bright colors that populate her drawings transport us into an almost extraterrestrial world, a feeling that’s reinforced even further by the constant presence of cosmic landscapes, alien skin tones, and lustful tentacles that cover her characters. These tentacles might be seen as monstrous symbols of sexual domination, but her characters do not fear them, they desire and find pleasure with them without being submissive.
Sam pokes fun at our modern day views on sex, as something that remains a taboo despite it’s permanent presence in our societies. By creating casual images that remind us about the quirky, fun aspects of sexual experience, she invites us to rid ourselves of our self-imposed limitations. A smiling young woman laying on her bed, a vibrator, hairbrush, and laptop resting at her feet is an image that speaks about the casual nature of sex and desire, something that shouldn’t shock us more than a hairbrush or a laptop.
If you enjoyed that, you might be interested in these explicit sexual illustrations and these ones that explore tantric sex.
