SHAWNG
brooklyn | SHE/HER/papi
How did you get into creating vagina bags and pussy purses?
I started creating bags to go with the artwork. I had been getting great responses to my art but I didn’t want to do what everyone else did, I didn’t want to just sell prints or throw them on a t-shirt, I wanted to create products with functionality that correlated back to the art they came from.
It says on your website “My art is heavily influenced by conversations I have with my homegirls about life, love and the everyday struggles we go through but no one else seems to hear or acknowledge.” What are some of the conversations and the struggles you’re having at the moment?
Last year I dealt with a lot of sexism, A LOT, I've been taking time to process everything, shift it in my head and I’m super excited for yall to see the art I’m creating from it, and the stories to go along. I do my best storytelling through art.
I find a lot of artists in this space mesh humour and sex. What is it about combining the two that’s so appealing?
My intent is never really to mix humour with sex, I think the humor is just a by-product of how society views sex, it makes people uncomfortable so they laugh as a defence mechanism. I just paint my interpretation of things and the viewer finds humor in it on their own. I was never trying to be funny but if that’s how they digest it as long as it’s positive that’s all I care about.
Who are your greatest influences?
As far as my art goes I can’t say I have any great influences, I just create so people can understand how I view the world, It’s my LaLaLand, so I guess my greatest influence isn’t so much a person, it’s just my life experience.
You design apparel printed with the words “Good Pussy” on them. What’s good pussy?
It's whatever you make it! Lol Its for who’s wearing it and what Good Pussy means to them, Some who wear it are sex workers and “Good Pussy” is a literal statement describing the product they sell, for others they’re mothers and “Good Pussy” is an affirmation and empowering statement to their yoni. For me personally, it shifts from day to day.
It’s tough making a living as an artist, especially when tackling more ‘confronting’ topics. Do you ever find it a struggle to balance being true to your art vs making a buck?
No. I’ve always found ways to make money through art. I had to hustle a lot but when I made up my mind this is what I wanted to do, the first step I took was committing to only working jobs where I used my art. So whether I was face painting, a teaching artist, painting sneakers etc, whatever it was I did I made sure it was art related to generating the energy of being a paid artist. From there I was slowly and I emphasize SLOWLY able to drop one job at a time until I was able to do ShawnG Originals full time. I cultivated a following of supporters who allowed me to take the leap and I’m forever grateful.
As a woman of colour in the art space, what have been some of the challenges you’ve experienced?
I consider myself Black not a woman of colour. I think it’s important to showcase that what I go through as a Black woman is not the same as a Woman of colour. It’s like vegan to vegetarian, it’s close but we are not the same, there are levels. Our experiences are very different and yes, more than I’d like to count. I’ve been turned down from art shows because they said the “context” of my art didn’t go with their show although there are many other paintings of nude women, the only difference is the skin tone. When I had my first sneaker deal the first design featured a black girl, the woman told me no because it wasn’t “marketable”. That’s why to this day I only shoot with black girls. I’ve been made to feel like I didn’t have the “look” or I didn’t “speak” the way they needed me to speak. Or if it was that they tried to box me into being “that girl” aka “token”.
And what are some of the triumphs?
The main triumph for me is knowing I created my own lane, I did it when everyone thought I couldn’t. And I did it myself.
So many women we speak to lament that sex education was terrible or non-existent growing up. You seem empowered now but what was your experience growing up?
My mother was a type of prude growing up, and we would bump heads a lot because I was more in tune with my grandmother’s teaching, (my father’s mother). My grandmother was really open with us about sex growing up, I remember when she gave us “The Talk” she told us “Sex is good, it feels good and it’s ok to like it, but make sure you stay protected”. I was like 14. I didn’t understand it at the time cause I thought behind closed doors everyones’ family was like that, but as I get older and meet different people from different places I see I was wrong and I see how blessed I am that that was my experience. I also understand my mother was shamed a lot for being a teen mom and that shaped her ideas around sex and how she chose to share it with us as her kids. It’s different now, I think her seeing my artwork has helped her heal the way she was shamed and she sees sex differently now.
If we were a butterfly on the wall and watched you in your artistic element, what would we see, hear, and smell?
You would see a whole lotta paint and canvas, you’d hear a mix of trap and unsigned rap music, and you’d definitely smell incense and turpenoid.
We’re all about elevating sexual expression. What does freedom of sexual expression mean to you?
For me, it means being comfortable with the decisions you make with your body unapologetically. They say women are shamed for being sexually free but lowkey women are being shamed for choosing modesty too and I think that’s wack. Freedom of sexual expression to me is being in a place where women who choose to wait til marriage and women who choose to sleep with a guy on the first night are equally respected and saluted for their choices because it’s their body and they can do with it what works for them, free of judgement.
What keeps you coming back to creating art and running your own business?
Even when I want to stop I can’t because art is literally my lifeline, I feel like it’s what God put me here to do. I just have to be ok with the hills and valleys that come with it. But God never gave me anything I couldn’t handle.
Tell us about this little Madonna who inspires your work…
Lol. The Madonna comes from the black women being God and birthing Gods. Madonna gave birth to Jesus, Jesus is God. Love God HerSelf, lol 🥀
What are your hopes and dreams for 2022 (and beyond, if you’re thinking big!)?
I’m open to whatever God has for me!
If you could dine with 5 people – living or passed – who would they be?
My grandmother, Frida Kahlo, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer and Assata Shakur. That’d be the best dinner ever!
Location: Brooklyn
Type of art: painting
Preferred mediums: oil paint
Other design products: bags, purses
Size range: varied
Price range (USD): $800+
Commissions: yes
If you love erotic art, you will love our books of erotic art and story . . .
