I sketched these at a bondage performance party called “Black Xmas”, and they are the first drawings in a new series entitled, “Rope Impressions,” that is comprised of life drawings of scenes of Japanese Style Rope Bondage (known as “Kinbaku” or “Shibari” in Japanese). The title alludes not only to the distinct rope marks that are left on the skin of the bound body, but also to the Impressionist movement. This is my virgin foray into Impressionism. Drawings such as these are not so much accurate renderings of art models as they are “impressions” of life, albeit a strange slice of life. The models for these drawings, though bound, were in constant movement, and I captured my impressions with great speed, and later refined them at my leisure. I feel that subject matter such as this returns to the original subversive spirit of Impressionism, before it somehow became the great sentimental hurrah of banal and bourgeois taste. Moreover it hearkens back to “Japonisme”, which was a strong current in Impressionism and other Fin de Siecle art movements. Importantly, it is an erotic indulgence in the beauty of bound women.
More drawings in this series will be forthcoming soon . . .
















