009: Fervor Friday With Erotic Visionary Artist Stephanie Rose Freeman
My loves life wants us. It wants all that we are. The essence of pleasure is to be centered in your inner authority, then come out in the world and act with power, integrity, and grace. It is not arrogant to claim your own authority. It is deeply responsible. The process of becoming your full self is called individuation. To individuate is to grow beyond collective and conventional standards and to take responsibility for your own values. To be truly yourself, to risk being different from your culture, family, or friends, can bring up anxiety and doubt. But your authenticity is in fact a gift back to your community.
On this Fervor Friday I am moved by art, the pure conviction of its unique symbolism. Art represents the soft expression of the artist as they lightly stroke a blank canvas and slowly bring fourth creation. A world in which we all can lose ourselves, become the artist, rebels, fall in love, lust, and complete freedom for the mind, body and soul. Today I am proud to bring you a woman after my own heart Stephanie Rose Freeman, a woman whose art is therapeutic, e-motive, passionate, honest and most importantly healing.
-Stephanie Rose Freeman, can you please tell us about yourself?
Hey! I’m an Erotic Visionary Artist living in Melbourne, Australia. I live in a lush converted bus (@magdathemagicbus) and I paint luscious oil paintings of people basking in their sexual essence. I’m lucky to be surrounded by a tribe of sexually empowered beings, who are more than happy to model for me and help share my art’s message of sexual empowerment with the world. I also offer The Yoni Painting Ritual – a 1:1 ritual of self love and acceptance, culminating in a live Yoni painting, which my client keeps at the end of the session. It’s a REALLY amazing experience – both for me, AND the person being painted! I also offer a few workshops and courses, such as Make Your Visions Real - a 6 week visionary painting course, Slay Your Insta Game – insta training for creatives, and Paint Your Empowered Pussy – a single day self yoni painting workshop with my co-host and dear friend Brighid Rose.
- Goddess can you tell us a little about your upbringings?
I was born and raised on the island of Tasmania, which sits just underneath Australia. My hometown is about a 45 minute flight from Melbourne, but my immediate family don’t live there any more. I was raised in a pretty “normal”, open but relatively conservative middle-class household. I was a bit of a wild card, and was always encouraged to pursue my natural talent for art and also for the violin. Tasmania is a pretty interesting place to grow up – at the time I lived there, it was pretty uninspiring - and being an island, I absolutely NEEDED to leave as soon as I turned 18.
I headed to Melbourne, which is where I now live, and absolutely love. Tasmania is now a really trendy hub for the arts, nature and tourism, and I enjoy visiting.
-How did your family react to you creating erotic art?
To be honest, for a while they DIDN’T! I didn’t hear a peep, I don’t think anyone wanted to say anything. Extended family like my facebook posts every now and then.
My Mum told me at Christmas that she’s in full support of my work, and thinks its really important. That was a really nice thing to hear!
-How would you define yourself and what inspires you?
Ooo that’s quite the question! I’m a free thinking gypsy soul, a visionary sexual activist, a spiritual entrepreneur. City Witch and nature lover. Introvert and extrovert, modern mystic and weirdo artist.
I’m inspired by the people I have around me – sexually empowered beings, living their truths and sharing their gifts with the world. I’m most inspired when I’m surrounded by beauty – beautiful people, beautiful art, beautiful homes, beautiful spaces. Beauty lights me up.
-What does sexual empowerment mean to you? Moreover, how do you believe erotic art can empower others to find their sexual authenticity?
To me, sexual empowerment means being in touch with self. Trusting ourselves and deeply feeling into what we want and what feels right to us. I feel like only once we’re in touch with our own needs can we connect with another from an authentic place.
Looking at it from this perspective – this means that everything from celibacy to sluthood falls under the umbrella of sexual empowerment.
I feel like erotic art can be a portal into the sexual lives of others – broadening our sexual horizons of what we believe is possible for us. In my art, my intention is to transmit the beauty of the sexual and sensual experience. I know what I capture is only a portion of the sexual experience, but there are so many erotic artists capturing all different expressions of sexuality, creating a diverse visual encyclopedia of sexual possibility!
-Sex, self-pleasure, deep intimacy… are topics that don’t seem to be as readily or openly accepted by society yet. Why is this?
Well, sex is POWERFUL. I don’t wanna get all “conspiriacy theory” but I kinda will. There’s a reason why sexuality has been suppressed for so long – if society as a whole were all in our full expression and full sexual power, we’d be a LOT harder to control. In this day and age being connected to our sexuality is a powerful and, in a way, a defiant act. And a very important one in my opinion!
All the more reason for me to keep painting and keep tapping into the mainstream to share my message with the world, and inspire people to love more!
-Stephanie I love how you explore themes around empowered sexuality through luscious erotic oil paintings, what inspired you to purse this form of “ taboo” erotica?
I’m really inspired by the people I’m surrounded by - my community in Melbourne, particularly the Tantra/Sexuality community. I’m inspired by the workshops I’ve attended and the open, accepting attitude towards sexuality that I’m always surrounded by. I’m in a unique position as an artist where I have the skills to recreate what I see, and a platform to share it with the world.
-Can you tell us a tell us about your incredible workshops more so The Yoni Painting Ritual?
The Yoni Painting Ritual is a really really special offering. First we enter ritual space – which is a kind of free flowing magical process – sometimes it’s a process of letting go, of calling in, of speaking things aloud – whatever wants to come through in the moment. After that, I paint the woman’s Yoni on canvas. The moment when I show her her painting is my favourite. More often than not it’s a moment of intense emotion and beauty. Some version of “I didn’t realise I was so beautiful” usually gets spoken. It’s amazing. I feel privileged to be able to offer this!
- Talk to us about the process of being a Yoni model? Do you find it to be therapeutic and healing for woman to model their beautiful Yonies?
Totally! I’ve painted myself a few times and it’s been a really healing experience – to really see myself and see the beauty of my vulva. I think that’s one of the things that being a model for a yoni painting really gifts us.
-Why is it important for woman listen to their pussy’s/ vulvas/ yonies?
They SPEAK! Sometimes we have forgotten how to listen. But our pussies are ALWAYS communicating with us. I feel like this space is the core of the woman. A place of really DEEEP wisdom. Listening to her is always in our best interests.
-What Inspired you to travel in your Magda Magical Bus and teach woman how to love their monies via the erotic arts?
I was inspired to travel in Magda the Magic Bus, because I had never seen much of Australia! I had done a lot of overseas travel but never in my own country, so living in a bus seemed like the perfect way to see my country! Australia is HUGE, and I’ve only seen a small portion of it, but it’s been a really grounding few years of travel and connection to the land that I come from!
-The Vestibule is one of the most profoundly moving paintings I’ve ever seen; can you walk me through the process of creativity that took you on the journey to create such a marvelous piece of art?
Thank you so much! It was an absolutely incredible process, and TOTALLY divine.
The Vestibule is a a prayer for women around the world to know their worth. To know the magic that lives between their thighs and the sacredness of their bodies. Their temples.
This painting came to me in a huge whoosh of a download. After having a conversation with my dear friend Brighid about how the entrance to the Yoni is called “The Vestibule” - which is the first room you go into when you enter a church.
A few days later we were chatting with another friend, Nabeel, in the car, and he was telling us that the reason why church doors are shaped in that way is because they are modelled off the Vesica Piscis.
This geometric symbol is made from two circles merging. It symbolises creation, and the Yoni - and has been used in sacred architecture for centuries.
After both those conversations, I was sitting at my computer minding my own business, and all of a sudden….
The vision for this painting dropped into my consciousness, fully formed.
It was like the moment from the book Big Magic where she catches the poem by the tail and writes it down backwards.
I was electrified, and totally inspired. I RAN to grab my sketchbook and hurriedly scribbled it down, which didn’t really satiate my creative desire.
All of a sudden I was taking photos and building the bones of the painting on photoshop, and within about an hour it was fully formed and anchored in reality, and I painted it over the next few months. It was a really incredible process, and so many people on the internet have connected with this painting!
-Do you have any advice for females on how to utilize their sexual energy?
Make a self pleasure ritual and use your sexual energy to manifest something in your life!
-What advice would you give to those that need to heal sexual trauma?
Seek out a trusted and highly regarded therapist who is proficient in the realms of sexual trauma.
-When you are caught up in your head or just really busy/distracted in life, how do you get back to earth (and into your body)?
I’m lucky enough to live walking distance to a river. In summer, a dip in the river ALWAYS grounds me and resets my system. The power of water is really amazing! Having a shower, or better yet, a bath is another way. Nothing beats the river though.
-Do you have a favorite ritual?
Not really to be honest – every time I do a ritual it’s different. I love it when I have time to make everything really lush – candles, frankincense, cauldron – the works!
-Can you share some tips for embracing sensuality and being sexually empowered?
Working through sexual shame has been a big one for me – I feel like in the world I grew up in, it was impossible not to internalize some form of sexual shame. Be it from our parents, our family, our friends, our school, our upbringing or society at large – I don’t think any of us have been exempt from that! It’s been a huge piece for me. Seeing it, recognizing it, and letting it go.
Attending workshops and courses on all different facets of sexuality has also been invaluable for me in empowering myself and learning about myself. Luckily Melbourne is absolutely FULL of them! Most of my friends are facilitators of some kind of sexuality inspired workshops – so I’m very lucky. Seeking out the sexuality or tantra community in your city would be a great place to start, and there are also festivals all around the world!
-Stephanie, thank you for sharing your time and energy with us where can the Kinktra lovers find you?
You’re very welcome! Thank you!
IG and FB @stephanie.rose.freeman
http://www.stephanierosefreeman.com/
