Interview with Local Artist Tvylor!

I have known this girl a really long time, always as an artist and poet.  When I started writing The Sexpert, her work took on a new significance to me. I had a new found respect for the bravery it takes to publicly express sex-positivity.  I deeply respect art as a medium to speak about sexual freedom. So, how thrilled was I when she agreed to an interview?!

Were you always interested in photography as a vehicle for social change?

I did photography as a hobby in high school and was a freelance photographer for three years before I got to the whole social change thing.

Up until 2012, I had become over weight.  After failing many times at keeping an exercise routine and healthy diet, I decided to try one last time before I called it quits.  I just wanted to feel physically good again rather than always feeling tired and as if I had no energy.  To my surprise, I succeeded at losing weight. 

I began posting daily on my Tumblr blog and Instagram account: selifies, family, random things.  One by one my followers increased.  It’s not a lot, but it’s exceeded what I would’ve anticipated if I had anticipated.  I was just doing my normal routine of blogging and posting photos (I’ve being doing that for years).   I began receiving messages/comments/reblogs (Tumblr and Instagram) from girls, women, and men who were applauding me for my courage to stand against the stereotypical definition of beauty (flat stomach, thin, long legs, etc.).

This was when I decided to begin the whole “camwhore session” thing.  With this, I also realized how powerful photography (or Art, in general) is and just how much I could do with it through social networking.  I had only seen it done, I never imagined that I could use Art in this way.  Somewhere along this path, it became clear that many people who were now paying attention to me, most likely wouldn’t have paid any attention if I had not lost the weight.  People who didn’t believe I’d be able to get anywhere in life suddenly were asking me for advice, people who told me I was fat suddenly wanted to claim me as their friend, men no longer walked past me to talk to my friends first; this list is ridiculous and cruel.  This was where my body positivity came to play.  I stopped my diet (and have pretty much gained 10 lbs. since, but whatever) and began promoting self-love, as this was something I had to teach myself to overcome my personal struggles.

I’ve always been aware of issues like self-harm, body image, race, culture clash, environmental issues, etc.  However, it wasn’t until recently that I decided to create art for social change.  This all leads me to where I presently stand.

   How did you find the inspiration to begin taking (almost) nude photos of yourself?

    

    I actually always did this… probably since I was 18.  Then, it was me trying to fit in, be sexy, and appeal to people.  I was young and naïve, lost and stupid.  I continued this theme throughout the years, even when I was overweight, taking photos or wearing clothes in a fashion that would hide my flaws, still believing that by doing so, people could recognize my beauty.  Now that I think about it, I think it was less for the people to find me attractive, but more of a self-esteem issue.  I wanted to see myself as beautiful, so I did what I thought would make me beautiful.  It was a hard time in my life.  I felt uncomfortable in my own skin, in my clothes, around people; I had zero confidence and ended up treating myself badly as well as allowed others to treat me badly because I disliked my self-image. 

    In 2011, I pulled myself out of a physically violent relationship.  I realized that I needed to stop treating myself badly in order to stop others from treating me even worse.  For a while I spent much of my free time alone reflecting and doing the things I wanted to do: rebuilding myself and rediscovering who I truly was.  I thought back to who I was when I was 20 and missed the courage and fearlessness I had then.  I contemplated on my inspirations and was reminded of my admiration for Suicide Girls.  The beauty they represented, how they didn’t care about your weight or stretch marks, how their photographs were absolutely stunning, yet vulgar. 

    

    And it went from there to my weight loss story to present day.

      

   You’re from a Hmong family.  Do Hmong cultural values or expectations for women effect your art in any way?

Definitely.

For one, I’m the first generation of children to be born in America in my family.  For two, I’m the first born child in my family.  And lastly, I was an only child for thirteen years.

Hmong women born and raised in our homeland, for the most part, never attended school or received any kind of education and were basically taught to obey, serve, and become a housewife, mother, and daughter-in-law.  In contrast, Hmong men are the head of the household, they are basically our “everything.”  They get the first word, the words in between, and the final say; it’s their way or there’s no other way.

There are many gender issues in our culture as we continue to evolve and adapt to a new country and new way of living.  There are also many other issues such as polygamy, domestic violence, emotional abuse, etc.  Many of my inspirations for change come from my personal experiences with these issues as well as issues I’ve witnessed or learned about through school or interest.

What kind of reaction have the photos of yourself received online?

A great deal of my audience are men.  Which is obvious considering the work I do is “vulgar.”  Some of them are great sports and some of them are just rude and perverted.  It’s expected, but it’s still annoying; however, it doesn’t matter, as I understand it can’t possibly be prevented and what does matter is that I know the purpose of my Art and continue to create for the portion of my audience who is there to support my purpose.

Other than that, I’ve met and conversed with many people (both men and women) online who do follow me and my work because they appreciate what I am doing and understand it for what it actually is rather than what the media has made us believe it is.  I also have many younger women and teenage girls who follow me and seek advice from me.

I’ve also received plenty of “hater” messages to stop because I’m fat and not cute.  But what does that teach me about myself?  It only teaches me about how shallow and conformed and possibly insecure others are.  (These types of messages are typically from females). 

  You are intentional about your use of the word “vulgarity” and call the sexy photos of yourself “camwhore sessions.”  Do you think being intentionally vulgar can have a positive message?

For me personally, it was hard to look at photos of myself or step in front of a camera because of my weight.  I was just re-entering the selfie scene and allowing myself a way to see what I looked like without being repelled.  Vulgarity was a form of expression rather than the adjective the dictionary proclaimed it to be (“lacking sophistication or good taste”).  I mocked it through my camwhore sessions and my art, kind of in a satire-ish nature, to ridicule this definition and give it a whole new meaning; my own meaning.

Vulgarity has nothing to do with sexiness or sexuality nor does it have anything to do with selling sex.  We’re conditioned to believe that revealing the skin and body defines the person doing the revealing as someone “easy,” “slutty,” someone who lacks self-respect, is not classy, or is asking for attention.  Truth is, we’re all vulgar behind closed doors in our own ways.  I think the majority of the population have watched porn, looked through a Playboy magazine, made Barbie and Ken have sex, have been aroused, have masturbated, have had sex, or have a naked photo of themselves hiding somewhere (lol).  But because this subject is touchy and for some reason, still hasn’t been fully accepted, we tend to disregard the fact that vulgarity or nudity is not lacking, it’s actually quite natural and normal.

I’ve re-defined this word through my creations as something that can be embraced without sexual intent.  Being vulgar is also being self-confident, being comfortable within your own shape and form, and having the intelligence, courage, and self-love to do so.

No matter what you do in life, there will be people who disagree, disapprove, and dislike you or what you’re doing.  There will be plenty of people who misunderstand, judge, assume, misinterpret, or simply disregard your purpose or intention.  I don’t believe that is my problem.  I think as long as I know what I’m doing and make it clear on my bio, photo, or project what my true intention is, is enough of a positive message to send. 

   Your “Beauty Is Diverse” series sends a very direct message.  Do you think you’ll do more photos that have an overt theme of body-positivity?

    

    I’d like to do a shoot with a large group of people and a body positive theme.  I don’t know when that’ll happen, but it will eventually :)

   You also keep up with photo projects that are completely unsexual in nature (siblings, clothed selfies, animals, etc.).  Do these differ in importance from your other projects at all?

    

    I’m not quite sure these could be compared in importance as they’re so different in nature.  In photo projects or camwhore sessions, I am clearly focusing on certain things.  Whereas, my random photos of family, nature, scenic, travel, etc. are more of personal interest posts.

   What can we expect to see from you in the future?

  

    There are many projects and issues that I want to develop projects around.  All the ideas are there, it’s now a matter of time, finance, finding participants, and then actually creating it.  I plan to release other projects in 2014 and continue doing so as we move into the future.  The projects will vary; they won’t all be social change focused.  I won’t reveal any details now since I’m always changing up my ideas and can be pretty indecisive at times! 

You can follow Tvylor's updates, posts, weird stuff, or message her at:

Facebook.com/officialtvylor – Photo/Artwork fan page

Daretorealizereality.blogspot.com – facts, opinions, writing, photos, updates on social issues, how to live a greener, non-toxic life, etc.

Officialtvylor.tumblr.com – Tvylor's personal blog which features Photo/Artwork as well as personal writing

@officialtvylor – Twitter

xxxtvylorxxx – Instagram –  updates almost once per day

Stay Inspired,

- The Sexpert