Sexual Tension

My graduate collection is built around aspects of fetish culture. I look at the “strong man” and the connection between sexual dominance and male dominance in professional settings, parliament for example. I used my research into sexual scandals in politics to connect the two topics. The original idea for this collection came from research I had done previously into male sex workers. Through this I learned that many of their “customers” are what is seen as your average family, working man with well-paid business jobs. I then investigated sexual scandals within political parties, most of which were from Tories, and found a connection to sexual dominance. Merging both topics sparked Whitty, humorous development through scenarios and using materials like stuffed tights to make sexually suggestive sculptures.