Interview: Abigail Larson

Abigail Larson’s greatest inspirations are fairytales, folklore and ghost stories. She brought these to #hardcover and #hardcover2, which will launch on the 4th of May 2020 on Kickstarter. Her illustrations have been featured in various publications including ImagineFX, Clip Studio, Spectrum Fantastic Art, Art Fundamentals, The Graphic Canon of Children’s Literature, Rue Morgue, and Digital Artist. She’s worked with DC/Vertigo, DC kids, Universal, IDW, Titan Comics, Pelican Books, SYFY, and Sideshow Collectibles.

So glad to have the chance to ask you a couple of questions. You didn’t hesitate much when you were asked to join the first book. Have you worked on any adult publications before? Or were asked about an erotic commission?

I think because I started my career wanting to get into children's illustration, no one really thought to hire me to do anything with adult themes. I've done a few kid’s books in the past, but now that I've delved more into gaming and comics, my style has changed a little, and I've started doing darker and more adult-oriented projects. I haven't done much in the way of published erotica, but for example, I got to draw several erotic scenes in the Sandman Universe comic "The Dreaming", which was fun. I'm a big sucker for romance, but since I'm generally hired more for typical fantasy/gothic illustrations, I leave the exploration of sensual themes to my personal work instead.

A book is more intimate and seems more appropriate for this genre.

Do you then believe that this one-time exploration for #hardcover will have an influence on the future (personal) works of yours?

I think so. It already has, in a way. So much of my personal work has a sensual quality to it, and now that I've produced erotic art that's published and available it's opened that door to a new genre. I'm sure I'll keep pursuing it.

How do you feel about the limitations that are given to express this quality to the public? 

On one hand, it's definitely frustrating that sexuality in artwork is still considered perverse or shameful, and so much so that it's virtually impossible to share erotic artwork on social media. I certainly don't find sex shameful, and as an illustrator, I really enjoy composing figures in a moment of intimacy. It's like drawing a dance scene. There's a strong connection and intense emotional expression between the characters which makes for a really interesting challenge, creatively. On the other hand, intimacy and sexuality are very private and personal expressions, so I can understand wanting to keep that imagery from public spaces. It's why I think a publication like Hardcover is the right response. Artists are free to create their work, it has a home in the publication, and the viewer can enjoy it privately, as opposed to a gallery setting, for example. A book is more intimate and seems more appropriate for this genre.

I think it's ridiculous that the human body is so heavily censored on social media.

So you feel like a book can be a more effective way to bring this content to a specific target audience. But what about the depictions of naked women in art that is, let’s say, from the renaissance? More and more images have been taken off social media because they show plain nudity, and it seems to be something that keeps artists puzzled and sometimes angry.

Nudity is another story! I think it's ridiculous that the human body is so heavily censored on social media. Museums are full of celebrated works of art that depict nude figures, and they're wonderful! There's nothing shameful about the human body, I personally think it should be celebrated. It is frustrating to see great classical works removed completely from social media as if they're "offensive" to viewers. But leaving the door to nudity open to the public leads to other issues. For example, where does one draw the line with dick pics?! It's just human anatomy, it falls into the nudity category - no big deal, right? So, it's the way it's presented that causes issues. How do we determine what's erotic art, and what's porn? Sites like Tumblr, Facebook, and Instagram use programs to remove "inappropriate" images, rather than having a human look at each image and determine if it's a beautiful work of art or porn. It all gets canned, and you have to appeal it if you're an artist who was wrongfully flagged. Depictions of sexual acts are another issue - I do understand the need to have a separate space for that imagery, otherwise, peoples' feeds would be full of porn spam mixed in with actual erotic artwork. But to judge a piece of erotic art on whether or not it merits being available on a social media platform still requires someone to vet it. And even then, by using their platform, you agree to abide by their policies, so the risk remains of whether or not certain works of art would be allowed.
And regardless of how much I enjoy seeing erotic art and wish that nudity was not so heavily censored, I do try to be respectful of people out there who are uncomfortable with it. Many people write off erotic art as porn and tuck it away into that category as if it's just unsavory and dirty and should be hidden. I don't agree with that mentality, but I respect their opinions. So, I do think that having annual publications or a specific gallery for this kind of artwork works best for now. Personally, I like that there's a sort of exclusivity to #hardcover, and that it's so well-curated. Anyone can find pornographic art online, but this book gives working professionals an outlet to create work in a genre that's somewhat maligned as vulgar, and elevate it to something really beautiful.

We've adapted to make these platforms work for us, but they do eventually end up feeling restrictive.

There have been calls for new platforms because of that issue and there are plenty who actually started these already. Do you think their minor success can be traced back to the fact that the existing social media platforms are too successful already and people rather accept a compromise? If so, why do you think artists fall in that category too?

For artists, using social media is a necessity because we use it to market our work and connect with potential employers and fellow artists. So I do think many artists do just end up conforming to the rules of current social media giants just to stay connected to everyone else. No one really wants to jump ship unless enough of the people in their online community is doing it. Another issue with taking a chance on a new platform means trying to figure out and navigate new algorithms and build an audience. Even if there's a new platform developed specifically for artists, it'd be artists interacting with artists, but we need a wide range of people to share our work with. So wherever we end up posting our work needs to be accessible to everyone. Personally, I'm frustrated with Facebook (and Instagram, which is also owned by Facebook) for various reasons, which is why I'm on twitter more often, but it's not really designed for artists. We've adapted to make these platforms work for us, but they do eventually end up feeling restrictive.

How would your perfect social media site look like then? No restrictions and no ads? 

My perfect social media site would be an imagery-heavy feed (like Instagram or Tumblr), and an interactive re-sharing system (like reblogging/retweeting) so people can easily fill their own feeds with things they enjoy. I love twitter because of the kinds of accounts I can follow and the ability to reach a wide audience, but I'd also like to see a platform that gives users the ability to not allow comments if they don't want them, and not show likes. I know for many artists active on social media, there's a lot of pressure to post popular content for an audience and get tons of likes, rather than just having fun and experimenting with their craft, so getting rid of that tally on each post would be a good thing, I think.

Who are your favorite artists when it comes to erotic art? 

I really love the ink works of Apollonia Saintclair and the really dark stuff from Kerbcrawlerghost (Cristóbal López). There are a few "classical" artists whose erotic stuff I like too, like Martin van Maële and Gerda Wegener.