MY SECRETS: SEXPLORATIONS AND OTHER EUROPEAN ADVENTURES
In 2016-2017 I traveled for six months through Europe, documenting everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) in my sketchbook/journal. Included are drawings and stories of artist residencies, hitchhiking, couchsurfing, sex parties, drugs, breaking into abandoned buildings, running from the police, meeting bears and much more.
Returning home I decided to publish it…..
$30 (including shipping).
INTRODUCTION:
I have always kept a sketchbook to plan for sculptures, process thoughts and document adventures. This book was intended to be a time capsule, so when I was old and forgetting the details of my youth and the internet had burned up with the (very few) photos that were taken, I would have this book as the memory of this adventure. I never saw it as a piece of art, in my eyes it was just doodles and my rambles. It wasn’t until I showed some pages to friends and received such a positive response that I thought to reconsider what it was that I was obsessively carrying around with me. And it wasn’t until the book was finished that I made the decision to make a printed version. So everything you see here was written and drawn for my eyes only. With only minor edits and consent from all named in the book (with some names changed for privacy), I present you with:
my secrets.
What began as a 5 week artist residency in Rome evolved into a 6 month adventure through 8 European countries. Once accepted to the C.R.E.T.A. Rome ceramic residency, I was awarded a grant from CALQ which fully covered the residency and financially allowed me to travel for longer (WOW THANK YOU). The project I was to work on was called “A Celebration of Female Sexuality.” I created a series of sculptures depicting non-heteronormative sexual acts and promoting a woman's ability to make decisions about her own body. This project was completed while working in a building owned by the Polish Catholic Church, I might add, and I raised a lot of eyebrows at the final exhibition. The completion of this project set the scene and with art and sex on my mind, I continued the rest of my journey
I got up to all kinds of shenanigans with old friends and new ones: i met all of my Hungarian family, did work exchanges, volunteered, couchsurfed, hitchhiked and found myself in some interesting sexual situations. I documented all of the adventures with drawings and with words. Being in travel-mode, I was a sponge for new experiences and learned so much about the world around me, the people in it and myself. Discovering the kindness of strangers goes a long way.
The decision to continue the travel or pack up and go home was made month by month. All in all, I traveled until I was too homesick to continue: from November 4th 2016 to May 11th 2017.
