Fusing porn with high art

A Q-and-A with Salacious founder Katie Diamond
By DEIRDRE FULTON  |  January 12, 2011

feat_salacious1_main

Porn in the form of prose and poems, along with sexy and graphic illustrations and photos, fill the pages of Salacious, a new magazine dedicated to erotic art and literature, the likes of which you may never have seen — at least not compiled in one place. Salacious, which celebrates its Portland launch this Thursday, January 13 at Slainte, is the brainchild of Katie Diamond, a local artist and activist. She calls the 60-page, full-color magazine "a perfect fusion of pornography with high art, comics with erotica, titillation with stunning visuals . . . the radical queer answer to the proliferation of such limited stereotypes as 'girl-on-girl' and gay 'muscle' porn."

We interviewed her in advance of the party, as word of the magazine spread and she prepped for launch parties in other cities including Brooklyn, Boston, Oakland, and the other Portland.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT YOU WERE ACTUALLY GOING TO DO THIS — WHAT WAS THE IMPETUS FOR IT MOVING FROM IDEA TO REALITY? I sent an e-mail to a friend of mine who works in publishing — basically asking if they'd ever seen anything like this before. The short answer is "no," this is a fresh idea and a fresh look at smut magazines. After receiving that answer, and asking a few folks I know that work in porn and erotica, I knew this had to be done. I wanted to supply something that had yet to be supplied, to fill a void that people didn't know existed yet.

WHAT HAVE BEEN THE MOST CHALLENGING AND MOST REWARDING PARTS OF THE PROCESS SO FAR? When I started this project, I thought that creating illustrated smut was easy. The truth of the matter is, to do illustrated sex well and with the right intentions — this is very hard. Everyone has a different definition of what sex is, what sexy is, what feminism is, what queer is. Everyone has a different idea of what's titillating and what's offensive. Trying to capture the spectrum of sexuality and gender, and to do so with a feminist, anti-racist perspective . . . Well, it's really difficult! But while this has been the most challenging aspect, this has also been the most rewarding. I've had incredible conversations about the definition of sex, sexuality, gender, heteronormativity, kink, race... It's been very fulfilling, and I continue to have these incredible learning moments.

feat_salacious2_main
WHO OR WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR INSPIRATIONS IN THIS ARENA? ARE THERE PEOPLE OR PLACES YOU TRUST FOR BOTH ACCURATE, EXPANSIVE, AND EROTIC REPRESENTATIONS OF SEX AND SEXUALITY? Great question. Ellen Forney is a great illustrator. She has a book of work she did for Seattle's The Stranger called LUST, which is a collection of illustrations she did from the personals section of The Stranger.

Additionally, Alison Bechdel. Her comic "Dykes To Watch Out For" did a great job illustrating different bodies and different sexualities. I can really only hope to have as expansive and inclusive as she's been with that comic. It's not really erotic, but does have sexuality.

While I wouldn't call him "accurate" or "expansive," I really admire Tom of Finland. His drawing style, in addition to the graphic sex, has really influenced me. I've always loved his "Kake" comic series.

1  |  2  |   next >
Related: Hitting a nerve, Celebrating the insignificant with Fun-A-Day, Trading sexual histories, More more >
  Topics: Lifestyle Features , Comics, racism, Sexism,  More more >
| More


Most Popular
ARTICLES BY DEIRDRE FULTON
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE  |  July 24, 2014
    When three theater companies, all within a one-hour drive of Portland, choose to present the same Shakespeare play on overlapping dates, you have to wonder what about that particular show resonates with this particular moment.
  •   NUMBER CRUNCHERS  |  July 23, 2014
    Maybe instead of devoting still-more resources to food reviews, Maine’s leading news organizations should spend money on keeping better tabs on Augusta.
  •   BLUESTOCKING FILM SERIES SHOWCASES WOMEN'S STORIES  |  July 16, 2014
    Among last year’s 100 top-grossing films, women represented just 15 percent of protagonists, and less than one-third of total characters.
  •   CHECKING IN: THE NEW GUARD AND THE WRITER'S HOTEL  |  July 11, 2014
    Former Mainer Shanna McNair started The New Guard, an independent, multi-genre literary review, in order to exalt the writer, no matter if that writer was well-established or just starting out.
  •   NO TAR SANDS  |  July 10, 2014
    “People’s feelings are clear...they don’t want to be known as the tar sands capitol of the United States."

 See all articles by: DEIRDRE FULTON