A Voluptuary Conversation with Katie Commodore

Photograph by Adrian Buckmaster

Katie Commodore is an artist based in Rhode Island. Her work has been exhibited at North Light Gallery, Maddox Gallery, Planthouse Gallery, Untitled Space and more. She has held artist residencies in London, Brooklyn Amsterdam, and New Hampshire. I got the pleasure to discuss with her the important questions she wants her art to raise, clothes and restrictions, and how she addresses sexuality in her art.

UZOMAH: What are some of the most memorable interpretations of your work?

KATIE: For my Master’s Degree, I created a piece titled “Le Bel Ebat” that measured a little over 10’ x 10’ (a bit over 3 m x 3 m) that was made up of 164 images printed on 8 different colors of Ralph Lauren paint samples, which each measured 2.25” x 2.25”. So it looked like a giant quilt, or maybe something pixelated, but I installed it in a completely random pattern. I was lucky enough, that I got to install it in a prime spot in the RISD Museum, right in the entryway, so you entered the Museum, paid your admission, turned, and about 50’ from you was this giant quilt of pink squares that obviously had images printed on it, but you couldn’t quite tell what they were...until you walked up on it and really looked. And then you saw hundred of different erotic images: people having sex, people masturbating, posing in their favorite outfit, cross-dressing, wearing strap-ons, everything. The night of the opening I was standing near-by as an elderly woman walked up the pieces and just uttered, “Oh my!”, but then continued to examine it for what felt like forever. And that just brought me so much joy.

U: What kind of important questions do you want your art to raise?

K: I want it to make the viewer think about how all sexual expression is normal, kink and vanilla is normal, and there’s nothing taboo about things that make you feel great (I mean, so long as it’s between two consenting adults, of course). I want it to make people who have fantasized about certain things realize they’re not alone and don’t need to be ashamed or embarrassed. I want people to see other examples of real people enjoying themselves wholeheartedly and see themselves in those images and know what they too can claim that power and live life to their fullest. 

“Greg in his catsuit,”

U: What do you consider the purpose of art?

K: Art has infinite purposes, from being something decorative to storytelling to meditation to being a rallying call to revolution, to memory, and everything you can imagine. And once the piece is created, its purpose and role in social change along with how society and viewpoints change. We don’t see a piece created in 1305 the same as the people that saw it in 1305 do. The same way someone from 2260 won’t see what we’re creating now the same way as we do. Much less, the purpose that the artist puts into the piece, may not be the same “purpose” that the viewers take away from it or the collector feels every time they look at it. 

U: What led you to want to become a professor?

K: Technically, I’m not a professor just yet! My first college-level course starts in a few weeks, so fingers crossed!

U: How has the influence of friends' beliefs affected your work? How important is it?

K: My friends’ beliefs don’t influence my work at all. I approach each modeling session with zero expectations and judgment. Whatever they want to show me I am beyond glad to document and create from. 

“In between takes”

U: Has the art world been open to your exploration of sexuality through art?

K: Yes and no. I think my subject matter has definitely kept my art out of any corporate collections or being able to be displayed in common areas in businesses or office buildings (which is often a real money maker for artists), but I’ve always had a very supportive group of curators and gallerists involved in my art career. 

U: What made you want to explore sexuality through your art?

K: It all actually started on a dare. But even as a young child I was obsessed with pornography, so when I decided to start creating erotic art it seemed like a natural progression. I’ve always been a figurative artist, there is nothing I like more than drawing the human body, so when I started creating erotic portraits it just felt like the perfect path

“Pieta”

U: Do you think that clothes have a way of restricting someone’s sexuality?

K: It depends. Anything that someone is forced to wear to hide something they want to express or show is restricting, but on the other side, anyone can find power in clothing. Being naked doesn’t make you automatically sexy or looking for sex, the same way there is something very sexy and sexual about someone that is fully dressed in something that makes them feel like they’re rocking it. Sexuality comes from the inside, and you can make that come through in anything that makes you happy and comfortable. I mean, sometimes, it’s really all about what’s under the clothes and the secret of knowing what you’re wearing. 

U: Has the art world been receptive to your very intimate approach in addressing sexuality?

K: That’s a complex question. I’ve had very polarized reactions to my art, either people love it or it makes them uncomfortable and they don’t want to talk about it.

For more information about Katie’s work, you can find it on her site, Twitter and Instagram.