Every day's catwalk drawing, charcoal on paper, 59.1 H x 88.2 W in, 2012
This article contains graphic images that some readers may find unsuitable. The art world is full of anonymous graffiti artists whose mysterious personas and street art credentials often loom larger than the actual work itself. So if oneslutriot sounds more like the name of a radical feminist movement than that of an artist who works in the medium of oil paint and charcoal, that choice is very intentional. The unidentified image-maker says, “I want my work to speak for itself, not my face, not my body, not where I am from or what I may or may not have done.”
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Having grown up around artists both at home and in college, oneslutriot now creates work drawing from old masters' paintings and etchings, bacchanalia and hedonism, touched by inspiration from German expressionist painters and modern painters of 20th century.
Everyday’s catwalk III, oil paints on canvas, 2013
In oneslutriot’s art, bodies are exposed and contorted, simultaneously drawing forth the subject matter’s humanity and a deep overwhelming sense of the uncanny, the familiar made strange anew. The artist says she hopes her work will help destabilize the viewer’s unquestioned and unconscious way of life and inspire them to “drop off the coat of capitalism and stereotyping.”She tells The Creators Project, “I believe my paintings bring grotesque and traditional painting together, and deliver the feeling of the unknown – the feeling of danger. My work is an artistic mirror for this sick and sad injustice, this mass subconscious rape of our bodies and mental health planted by capitalistic society and patriarchy.” She wants to awaken people from their smartphone-induced social media stupor, saying, “Pop culture is not trying to copy the behavior of geniuses, they are promoting a behavior of idiocy. If you could choose, would you be Barbara Kruger or Marilyn Monroe?”
Oneslutriot was inspired by the world of riot grrrls, moving away from the traditionally male-dominated arena of punk rock, and toward artists like Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Guerilla Girls, and Scum Manifesto. She says, “It really inspired me seeing them putting on the plate the uncomfortable truth, unveiling taboos, talking freely and from their heart, not being scared of being criticized and scrutinized.”
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She tells us of the origins for her artist name, “I haven't had an army, and I don't have it yet. That's why it's one. Slut, because it is the most common word used in shaming women. I am a slut because I own the freedom of my body, and if it is the word to describe non-monogamous non-traditional anti-Christian sexual behavior. And riot is the language of the unheard.”
Self-portrait, charcoal on paper, 210cm x 150cm, 2011
Oneslutriot doesn’t just preach anti-capitalism, she lives it, saying, “ I consider myself free from consumerism. I don't buy things, I don't buy clothes, any beauty products or new TVs. I don't hire people to build stuff for me or screw in a light bulb, I don't even pay rent except for my studio where I work. It is not because I can’t afford to be a full on consumerist, it is because of my free choice to not participate.” She credits the DIY punk scene for opening her eyes to the possibility of this mode of living. “Nobody teaches you at school that you can live for free,” she says, “when you learn to actually do everything yourself, you don't need wages or a boss, you don't work just for money, you work because you believe in what you doing and you want to create your own world.”
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Oneslutriot was inspired by the world of riot grrrls, moving away from the traditionally male-dominated arena of punk rock, and toward artists like Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Guerilla Girls, and Scum Manifesto. She says, “It really inspired me seeing them putting on the plate the uncomfortable truth, unveiling taboos, talking freely and from their heart, not being scared of being criticized and scrutinized.”She tells us of the origins for her artist name, “I haven't had an army, and I don't have it yet. That's why it's one. Slut, because it is the most common word used in shaming women. I am a slut because I own the freedom of my body, and if it is the word to describe non-monogamous non-traditional anti-Christian sexual behavior. And riot is the language of the unheard.”
