abbm

(BTA) Behind The Art: Banned Painting

Added 2018-11-16 04:38:21 +0000 UTC

*WARNING: Art May Be Considered Graphic, Depicts NSFW Simulated Suicide/Murder*

Early in my career as a Body Artist, I was working pretty heavily with my friends. One of them, Kye, had been featured in a few of my paintings but wanted to try something weirder. Honestly I think he was a little bored! His one request: "I want it to look like you murdered me".

Now I'll admit, I'm not one for gore. If I can tell its fake, like Mortal Kombat, I don't mind. But if it's realistic, human suffering, I don't care for it. This was a hard one for me, so I tried to make the "corpse" look colorful.

During the photoshoot, the ideas were honestly lacking. We tried a few versions of him tied up in a chair, standing, but nothing really stood out to me. The model was about to shower, when I noticed the marks I was making on the bathtub with the paint. I was fascinated by the grimy appearance, and decided to create a scene, complete with fake blood!

Kye loved it, and thought the two official photos "Bathtub" and "Bag" were both powerful.

Without much fanfare, I released the first photo. The response was great, but unfortunately Facebook itself did not care for it. They asked me to take down the photo. I declined this request, so Facebook banned me from all communication for three days.

I don't think people realize how much that can impact, well, pretty much everything. The majority of my business and scheduling is handled on Facebook. I stood my ground though, and the photo remains, a reminder of the time I was almost censored.

With that being said, I'm sensitive to the fact that this might upset some people. If you have the stomach for it, here is my attempt at creating this type of experience. As an additional Patreon bonus, on top of this feature, I've included additional photos of the model as the art was created. I hope you enjoy!

-Brandon