(Un)Solicited

Exhibited as part of First Impressions, July 3-8, 2023

Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS

(Un)Solicited explores the more private or intimate aspects of online dating. Exchanging phone numbers or social media information can result in unexpected surprises, which, depending on how a person feels about dick pics, may be more or less welcome. This work is inspired by experiences my friends and I have had in the world of online dating. The images are reproductions of or informed by images I have received, unsolicited, from men I have met online, images men I have matched with on dating apps have asked me to take, and images shown to me by friends.

The digital nude is a tool used to build sexual interest and desire. The prefix un- refers to an experience that those who have tried online dating may be familiar with: the unsolicited nude, generally, a dick pic. ‘Solicited’ refers to experiences my friends and I have had of being asked to send nudes. Some of these requests have been quite specific: pose braless, bent forward, breasts hanging in the air; in the shower under running water; naked on a bed; naked in front of a mirror. Always naked with no focus on the face. The digital nude is as an artifact of dating, and the meaning of the digital nude is best understood in the context of intimacy and desire online—no face required.

These are all images of 1:6 scale dolls.