Inspired by the Japanese artistic movement of Ero Guru Nansensu –which comprises erotic, grotesque, kinky, and nonsensical elements to criticize social taboos– Tina Lugo depicts sexual fantasies and dreams through very raw and explicit images. She is unafraid to play with Pop culture references, and it is this eclectic and bright colored world that unsettles the senses and awakens your darkest fantasies.
Nothing about Tina Lugo’s art is conventional or simplistic. To start with, she paints on glass canvases so her pieces last longer and look brighter, as if they were made digitally. She’s described as a “Contemporary Pop Japanese Erotica and Horror” artist who shows provocative, bold, irreverent, and shocking designs, where violence and kinks merge in nightmarish scenarios.
And, precisely, these paintings are based on the darkest dreams of the artist. As she has stated, when she was a little girl, she had recurrent nightmares and these continue to haunt her in adulthood.
Her art became a container where she poured her darkest experiences. Her painful, past relationships are a continuous source of inspiration, so it is no coincidence that most of her paintings are set in bedrooms. Her stories of abuse and terrible loves and mingled with characters that explore their darkest desires and fulfill them without censorship or restraints.
Many have considered her work as gross and disgusting, and that’s precisely the first impression she wants spectators to feel. This impact is mixed with revulsion and this makes people wonder why they can’t stop watching. She intends to start a dialogue between her work and the audience, so they can leave taboos aside and accept their sexuality as it is: “this has made me open up about my sexuality and want to explore kinks and not hide anymore.”
To add some fun, she introduces atypical elements in erotic art like Mickey Mouse, Pin-up Girls, or Winnie the Poo. Sex and fantasies are extremely sensitive topics, and by adding strange elements it creates a dissonance with the audience. These unsettling sensations is how the artist opens up the floor for dialogue and introspection. The gore and violence take center stage and every hurt is keenly felt with all the bright colors and familiar elements. The most important part of this dialogue is to make people explore their own sexuality and tear down those preconceptions that stop them from experiencing new sexual drives and fantasies.
Last but not least, another important topic in her work is the representation of queer sexuality in art. Many of her paintings show homoerotic experiences in dreamlike scenarios. She has always felt queerness is underrepresented and even states that there’s a huge difference in depicting homoerotic experiences as a means of fantasies than doing it from within. Not everything is gay or lesbian; queerness has many varieties and hues that people tend to forget and that’s what she wants to portray. She wants to give queer people a voice in a discipline that tends to depict their experiences as mere heterosexual fantasies.
What started as a dream of becoming a manga illustrator and a writer of graphic novels soon evolved into painting. Now she’s exhibited her work worldwide and has a strong Instagram presence where she shares all her ideas and creations. Moreover, she’s been selling merchandise of her work, making a brand of her own. She has become the embodiment of millennial art and shows a new way to appreciate this craft.
If you want to explore more of her work, take a look at her website: Tina Lugo*
Sources:
Hunger TV
The Pink Snout