We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Georgia Fried. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Georgia below.
Georgia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
I think the obsession over the happiness of artists over other jobs contributes to the economic struggle artists face.
What defines a “regular job”? I struggle to find a meaningful answer to this question that doesn’t revolve around money flow. Artists certainty don’t contribute any less to society than the barista, plumber, or store manager, so we are not irregular in the sense of societal purpose. Artists jobs are everywhere; we are in tattoo parlors, hair salons, floral shops, theaters, companies’ graphic design rooms, photo studios, and store front arrangements, so we are not irregular in the sense of rarity.
We are irregular because we are undervalued. We are viewed as a hobbyist that has found a way to make money off their hobby. We are seen as someone who chose “happiness” over financial security. I have seen this used by clients of my fellow artists as justification to pay us less. The thought is “why do you charge so much, isn’t this something you do for fun?”.
I would like to see this question asked to your electrician. Do they wonder what it’s like to have a regular job?
Georgia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I make erotic art and theatre. Because of my theatre background, the mediums I work in change all the time. Acrylic paintings make up the bulk of my work, but I also sculpt with a 3D pen, various clays, needle felting, resin, wood, and steel.
The goal of my erotic art is to create queer, sensual, loving, and colorful explorations of body diversity, kink, and sexuality. What’s unique about my art is not only my colorful style but also the body types that inspire me. I love to see pudgy and soft tummies, triangle-shaped boobs, fatty knees and elbows, round faces with a soft jaw. All of the things that women have been told that they need to fix about themselves are things that I want to emphasize as beautiful and sexy in my work.
As a plus-size woman, myself, I have been doing this a lot with images of myself. Painting images of my own body in my work is my way of showing that I’m going through the same journey as my clients and those who commission me. Showing myself, my soft tummy and chubby elbows, as art has helped me love those parts of myself and I am here to help those looking for the same love in those parts that society tells us to fix.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I think we all have to unlearn the “default settings” for our sexuality and identity. What I mean by “default settings” are the characteristics that we assume about a person until told otherwise. We assume people are cis gendered, straight, monogamous, vanilla, want to have kids, work a “regular job”, etc. Since this is fed to us through many forms of media growing up, we internalize it. Nobody gives you the tools to question your sexuality and identity; I’m discovering, constantly, how I do not fit into these norms that I never thought to question before. I had to unlearn being straight, monogamous, and vanilla. It wasn’t like I woke up one day and was suddenly attracted to all my friends, I had always had these feelings, even all the way back in high school, I was just never given the tools to identify them.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I love love. It really is as simple as that. I make erotic and romantic art because I love love. I know people can become bitter towards love because it requires vulnerability and opens us up to being hurt. I think it’s worth it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lovegiggles.bigcartel.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/love.n.giggles/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/giggles_n_love?t=DIDFALeBWv1T5oWV_hsClw&s=09
- Other: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Giggly?fan_landing=true
Image Credits
I photograph all of my own work