Challenging Gender Politics

Through Oil Paint

Gender politics begins in the bedroom.

My work isn't about creating titillation or shock. Instead, my work is about raw honesty, an unabashed mirror reflecting our daily existences and provoking the thought: "Could we not aspire for different, for better?" Confronting the realities of our bodies is not always comfortable, but it’s required for us to move forward.

The power dynamics inherent in our sexual lives are not confined to the privacy of our bedrooms; they spill out, shaping our society in ways we might not even realize. Even as our bodies delight us with pleasure, they weigh us down under oppressive structures. I know this contradiction deeply, which pushes me to use my art to question, challenge, and disrupt. Many of these inequalities stem from how our society handles sexuality—how it tries to control our bodies and our pleasure and box us into divisive classifications based on physical differences. Through my art, I seek to empower, educate, and inspire, to reflect on what is, and what could be if we take action small or large.

Independent And Intertwined: The Exploration Of Pleasure

Guiding Hand, Equal Stand

Ari with her dog, Wesley

Create. Resist. Repeat.

Create. Resist. Repeat.