Hot pics
Josey Vogels
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One of Lili G.'s less explicit photos
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In a review on Fleshbot.com of her website (which the Village Voice described as "the smartest, most useful site on the Internet"), Lili G. is described as a "very talented digital artist and writer from Canada who belies the notion that all Virgos are uptight and frigid."While it's true that the photos on Eroticalee2 (http://eroticalee2.blogspot.com) are anything but uptight or frigid, there is a meticulousness to them that perhaps has more to do with her upbringing than her astrological sign.
"I am the product of two mentally ill parents," Lili G. tells me by e-mail, since her Ménière's disease makes her hard of hearing, especially on the phone. "My mother was manic depressive; my father a paranoid schizophrenic. During the year it took my mother to plan and carry out her suicide I was her confidante, and therein lay most of my skeletons."
Lili G. left home directly after her mother's funeral, and, at age 13, took to the streets. She occasionally returned home for food or money and spent time in psych wards and group homes. She worked the streets and the system for the next four years until, at age 17, the courts awarded custody to her 34-year-old boyfriend instead of her father. "I was never consulted so I don't know the reason, but my social worker thought it best to give custody of my person to a man I barely knew," recalls the British Columbia-based, self-described "scribbling artist of a sort."
But as the Fleshbot.com review rightly points out, while Lili G. turns hardcore imagery
and sexy self-portraits into art, "don't let that scare you off; this is still some of the hottest work we've come across in quite a while."And I wholeheartedly agree. The site features some of the sexiest ass shots I've seen and the more abstract digitally enhanced images of almost indistinguishable body parts are wildly titillating.
Often, more "arty" imagery reeks of what Lili G. describes as the "slow, soft and nurturing hand" one expects of "women's erotica." But she has no patience for that.
"Probably because I'm sexually jaded I like hardcore porn over light-handed erotica," she says. It amuses her that people on Internet forums like to argue over whether her and her husband's work (he is also a photographer and all the penises in the photos are his) is erotica or porn. "I've never felt any need to draw a line between erotica and porn," she explains. "Maybe it's both."
Indeed, the images are a striking blend of hardcore imagery and exquisite execution, something I always seek and rarely find in smut.
Then again, who cares what you call it. "We enjoy what we do, with or without giving it a label," says Lili G.
The "scribbling" artist comes out in Lili G.'s other site, Eroticlee1 (http://eroticalee1.blogspot.com/), where she chronicles her experiences as a prostitute.
Again, be it her Virgo-ness or her history, the well-written stories are oddly mechanical. There is a detachment from the activities going on, be it getting strapped to a tombstone by her three "vampire" clients or giving a guy a blow job while going through the drive-thru at McDonald's.
"I'm just trying to set down people I knew, the good and the bad," she explains. Lili G., whose young age and small size made her a hot commodity in a market, she says, that loves little girls or older girls who can represent little girls. "I don't want to analyze their reasons for seeking children."
Her realistic attitude toward the job is refreshing: "Most car jobs were fairly safe. Only a few times I had to jump," she writes. At times, it's to the point of absurdity, like in her story about the husband of an otherwise fairly mundane couple who'd ask her to squeeze into a box which he'd cover, leaving a hole that exposed her ass so he could insert things.
"The first time I laid eyes on the box I was terrified to get inside," she writes. "I could have refused, but then I'd have gone away empty-handed, and to leave a job empty-handed was scarier than anything a client could throw at me."
Practicality aside, the other point she drives home is that she could have refused.
"I hope by the end of my tales people will realize that what it all amounts to is we all have choices, and we all make choices," Lili G. tells me. "I could have walked away at any time. I chose not to, for whatever reason.
"I have no philosophy. I have no insight," she states matter-of-factly. The bottom line, she says, is that "sex sells, sex has always been sold." And while she believes there will always be a sex trade and there will always be women choosing to enter it or leave it "for whatever reason," her only beef is that it is trade, and "as a trade, it needs to be recognized as such and made safe for the workers."
These days, Lili G. chooses to express herself through her writing and her pictures. "I love producing something beautiful from an ordinary body part," she explains. "And I love the feedback from viewers. They see things in our pictures that we never intended. It's fascinating."
Like the pictures of telephone cords winding around female genitalia. I suggest some profound connection between these and her relationship (or non-relationship) with the telephone.
"They're just my interpretation of phone sex," I can hear her laughing via e-mail. "Nothing too deep."
I lighten up. The girl is also clearly just having some fun.
As is evident with a description of what she calls her "'I'm ready for my facial now, mister" shot, a beautifully lit image of a wide-eyed Lili G., looking up at her boyfriend while she gives him head.
"I have that classic porn look on my face, you know 'the adoring bovine' look," she explains. "I thought the picture hilarious."
| Shocker: Lili G. is refreshing! |
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Lili G.'s attitude is completely refreshing. I will go as far as saying we need more women like her, who state their opinions point-blank and refuse to play the victim.
Vogels' brief description of Lili's past on the streets after the tragedy of her mother's suicide, along with the creepy tales of certain prostitution clients, do perplex me. No, that's not enough. I sympathize and wish this woman could have had a better past. I feel for her, but not having experienced her exact life, I can't understand completely; no one but she herself can. Thus we have to focus on her attitude, her ability to overcome, and her art, which I have not seen aside from the picture complementing the article.
Lili G. is refreshing because of her honesty. She is clearly a smart woman. She describes her sex work as it is, without glorifications, and especially without any hint of martyrization. She emphasizes "choice" - both her own as well as everyone else's - and that is what's most important. It should be obvious by now, yet so many still condemn sex work and look down on workers like poor, lost souls. Lili G. doesn't think she is, so why should anyone else?
Her comments on the truth of choice - whether to do sex work at all, whether to leave the trade, whether to act on clients' desires - are pure truth. Every single worker does have the choice. Yes, it is a lucrative alternative to poverty, but here in Canada, it's not a "trap" women fall into. There is always the option to leave or deny a client services.
What we need, as Lili G. says, is a safer environment. It's a damn good thing people are starting realize this, with non-profit organizations like Chez Stella already working to that goal. Perhaps Lili G. is the ideal spokeswoman, as she knows how to get her shit together and turn her experiences into something positive. Let the woman create, and let HER decide if her work is "porn" or "erotica." For all it matters, just call it HER ART.
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Lise Treutler
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{4 votes}
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Close-ups and Photoshop, do not an artist make. It is perhaps forgivable that with standards in porn set so low, Ms. Vogels would consider this art, and it is occasionally so. However, a child playing around with colour filters and imaging programs could create more interesting effects than some of these photos. There is little interest, expression or provocation left in the picture of a vagina. Also, turning a vagina beet red does little to increase any of these factors.
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Nathan Murray
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| Messy Lili G.'s site of blurry wonders |
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Like most guys I've visited a few erotic sites in my day whenever I got bored or distracted, most of those sites WERE smut. You can forget any sort of artistic or aesthetic value to 90% of what's out there. If you were prone to being anal you'd probably say that Lili G's belongs in that percentage.
I'm not, so I won't.
I actually bothered to look it up and it's not that bad. Some of the images are quite striking, others are just weird.
You can call it what you want, I call it art. No, not art for everyone but art nevertheless. I have seen better but given the sheer amount of sewage out there this is a nice little digital oasis.
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Pedro Eggers
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{1 vote}
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Lots of erotica web sites use hyper realistic photo representations of the human body to arouse interest but Lili on the other hand uses blurred and colour enhanced depictions of the human form which is often not recognized as such. It is like looking through the frosted glass of a shower door to see the fuzzy image of the bather beyond. Lili is thus able to remove the imperfections of human skin and make it harder to for us to identify the actors involved. She is saying that pimples and warts are not important. I would not classify her art as porn because no real violence is portrayed. If there was blood or other indications of injury it would be a different story. What is amazing about her web site are the hyperlinks to countless other sites which portray different styles of photographing erotica. It is a great starting point for exploring this field.
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Stephen Talko
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{2 votes}
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