Up Close and Personal with the Illustrator Reconstructing Femininity

Sex positivity is the order of the day, every day for provocative French artist Safia Bahmed-Schwartz, whose erotic monochrome illustrations recently caused her Instagram account to be deleted overnight.

The 30-year-old illustrator has since resurrected her feed, continuing to suspend rigid readings of sexuality through her striking, carnal depictions of sex and nudity against an increasingly regimented landscape of social media censorship.

Here, she talks about pornography, philosophy, empowering her daughter, and the joy of black and white.

What draws you to erotic illustration in particular?
I’ve been drawing erotic images for ten years. It makes me feel alive.

How would you describe your line of work to someone at a party?
Storyteller. Witch. Devil’s advocate. Depends on my mood.

Outside of illustrating you’re a director, tattooist, art book publisher, multimedia artist; what are you working on right now?
Right now I’m working on an EP, an album, oil paintings, and mural paintings of fight-scenes, which I’m finding more sexual than actual intercourse. And a book, but that’s a long project.

Have you come up against any problems with social media censorship?
It used to be rare. Occasionally a drawing on Instagram would disappear, stuff like that. But recently I woke up to a friends’ message telling me my entire account had disappeared. I immediately opened Instagram to the message that I’d breached community guidelines and in turn my account had been deleted. I felt silenced. Instagram was my way of communicating with fans. It was how I documented my mood and sought to inspire young women and men around the world. Everybody has sex. I don’t understand how my work is problematic. But I’ll continue creating.

Where did you grow up?
The Parisian suburbs. I moved into Paris aged 18 and am still here. I love Paris, but I hate her in equal measure. She was my first love and I know her inside out.

How have your family and friends reacted to your work?
My subject matter is a part of me. It’s been there since I was a child and they know it’s part of who I am. My friends consider my work a source of power. As for my daughter, I hope she is proud and empowered to grow as a free, strong, smart woman.

Are you influenced by responses to your illustrations?
Not really, but I love that people share them. I love reflecting an audience’s desires – making my words and drawings a truthful interpretation of people’s feelings.

Talk us through your creative process – do you have any routines, or places where you like to draw?
I wish I had a daily routine, but I don’t. I need to create more than I need to eat or sleep. I draw. I write. I think about upcoming filming. If I’m not filming, I’m editing. I paint in my studio 3 times a week. It’s imperative that I find studio time, just to be alone with myself. I love solitude when it’s on my terms. I also exercise 5 times a week to connect my soul and body. Without exercise I feel like a ghost, aimless. Then I can unwind, listen to music and think about my own recordings. And of course there’s sex. Although I don’t think you can always be full of sexual desire. Society says we should want to fuck all day, everyday. But it happens when it happens. Sex is like peeing, you only go when you need to.

What inspires you to draw a particular subject?
Souvenirs. Desires. Fantasies.

I don’t think you can always be full of sexual desire. Society says we should want to fuck all day, everyday. But it happens when it happens. Sex is like peeing, you only go when you need to

Have monochrome illustrations always been your preference?
Since the very beginning it’s always been black lines. Back in art school a teacher told me it’s easier to use colour than limit yourself to black and white. Colour is often used to make something more attractive, but I wanted to take the hard route. So I stuck with black and white. You can’t lie in black and white, it’s honest, clear. Sometimes I experiment with shadows, but mostly I find even that’s too much.

How would you distinguish erotica from pornography, if at all?
Pornography doesn’t make you think. It doesn’t let you identify yourself. Erotica does. Watching porn is like watching Syrian war footage: it’s violent and makes me feel sad about humanity.

Is porn a threat to feminism?
It’s a threat to all humans. It gives youth the wrong impression about relationship dynamics. It makes men feel like they have to behave like the guy on screen. It fucks up people’s understanding of self, body and emotion.

Have you noticed any patterns in how men and women react to your illustrations?
Rarely. I try to represent them equally. It’s important for me to be inclusive and talk to everyone, reflecting the desires in both women and men’s heads.

What’s your take on Trump’s election and its implications for women?
I’m fucking sad. For women and all minorities. But I hate that word, minorities. For me, everyone is equal. I hope we figure it out. It all feels like something straight out of a history book, like a situation we’ve already lived – WWII and Nazis, stuff like that. If we’d taken those experiences seriously we wouldn’t be here. Trump wouldn’t be here.

Pornography doesn’t make you think. It doesn’t let you identify yourself. Erotica does. Watching porn is like watching Syrian war footage: it’s violent and makes me feel sad about humanity

Best way to spend a Friday night?
No rules, no plans and one motto: ‘live each day as though it’s your first and each night like it’s your last’.

Any icons?
I’m my own worst enemy. My only enemy, in fact, and the only one I believe in. I admire people for their creativity, people like Vincent Van Gogh, Lil Kim, Simone Veil, Tupac, Magritte, Björk, Frederich Nietzsche, Johannes Brahms, and all the artists that I’m lucky enough to call my friends: Pierre Graizon, Marin Fouqué, Morgan Tshimber, Mohamed Bourouissa and Ophélie MAC. I love their work.

What are you reading, watching, and listening to right now?
I’m reading a lot of philosophical works. Right now I’m reading Georges Bataille’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. I also read a lot of poetry. I watch a lot of 90s and 00s movies like Sex Intentions and stuff like that. I can’t wait for the new Twin Peaks. I’m also into Orange Is The New Black. Just now I was listening to the Jackie Brown soundtrack. I listen to lots of rap too and French rap like PNL. I’ve recently been listening to lots of Lauryn Hill.

What empowers you?
Love. The love of my daughter, friends, family and lovers. Words empower me too. Strong, deep, smart and powerful words.