Julia Daniel

Point of entry: A pursuit of pleasure in an attempt to expand pleasure beyond intercourse. The Guiding question for the art making is “How can art therapy support survivors of sexual violence in exploring desire and pleasure”.

Pleasure, /ˈpleʒər :
Pleasure drives us to be curious, active and connected.
It is a feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment that is strengthened by one’s complex knowledge of themselves. Pleasure can be physical, emotional, intellectual, romantic, platonic, spiritual, aesthetic, sexual, sensual etc.

Survivor, /səˈvaɪvə(r)/:
Someone who has experienced a violation of their mind/body. The term describes someone in the healing/recovery process or when discussing the short and long term effects of sexual assault on the person violated.

Materiality: Found objects and sexually explicit drawings. Found objects’ potentiality can support survivors in expressing pleasure nonverbally. Intimacy and attraction can be conveyed through found objects. What are you drawn to? Why are you drawn to objects? Illuminations can be made regarding one’s thoughts on pleasure. I implement drawings as a means to synthesize the findings and inquiries from my research and lived experience. The sumptuous green curtains protect my personal fantasies, while the existence of the drawings give permission to fantasy.

I am inspired by the graphic and fantastical nature of the erotic drawings by the likes of Austin Osman Spare, Vyacheslav Mikhailov, and Ida Teichmann. Conceptually, I am inspired by Jorge Lucero’s Museum of Us (2021) which invites participants to tell their personal stories using things. This valuing of things informs my use of found objects- some of the objects speak for themselves, and others are numbered with corresponding information. To me, found objects and tangibility symbolize safety.

My work displayed in the MAATC exhibition is a visual representation of my experience with exploring my personal understanding of pleasure. The toolbox is a response to an urge to expand my own concept of pleasure from merely sexual- it includes spiritual, emotional, aesthetics, intellectual, romantic, platonic, etc pursuits of pleasure. This expansive understanding of pleasure is informed by my work with sexual trauma survivors. By sharing my toolbox on display in this exhibition, I intend to normalize presenting the exploration of pleasure and work towards understanding one’s sources of pleasure in an arts based way. The drawings are more explicitly sexual in nature, hence the curtains- the sumptuousness of the curtains invite viewers to peek but symbolize a level of intimacy. The normalization of this exploration symbolizes a workshop I developed that is set to take place in May. The workshop invites clinicians to expand upon their concepts of pleasure in a way that is informed by responses to sexual trauma. Though the work has components of explicit sexuality, it simultaneously aims to address the obsession with sex that is present in our society.