Seen

Project Statement

It can appear without warning. No “NSFW”,  “XXX coming in hot”, only a dick, in a direct message (dm). Delete, block, report, save, but whatever impression it’s left has been made. And the dick knows it, because under the photo it reads, “Seen”. 

Of course there’s a time and place for a dick in the dms. When an advance showing of what one’s holding is requested, rest assured, a dick pic will be deployed, and rightly so. The phenomenon of the  unsolicited-dick-pic dm (udpdm) however has no time or place. Nonetheless, there it is. 

This is not to say an udpdm isn’t useful. It warns the receiver of the kind of dick they’re dealing with. And for the sender– who I’ll refer to as the Dick Pic Narcissist (DPN)– it fulfills two desires: exhibitionism, which is the thirst for exposure; and the Grandiose Fantasy, which  is the longing for admiration (Kohut, 1966). 

Anyone who considers a dick pic an abject gift is more likely to ridicule the ego than stroke it. And yet, with an udpdm, disgust and pleasure can materialize, respectively, on opposing sides of the same chat. How? 

It’s possible because the pleasure of exhibitionism is auto-erotic, the very act of exposure guarantees satisfaction as long as the dick is “Seen”. This is the advantage of an udpdm for the possessor: no one has to ask, no one has to offer. Its very appearance fulfills the dick’s desire.

Seen is my first series of paintings. The responses to this subject and the project have been incredibly rich, diverse and emphatic. From feminists to gay men to cis-dick-pic senders, strong convictions adhere. What’s more is, although the project is based on the phenomenon of unsolicited dick pics, if I asked permission to paint a dick pic, the response was a definite yes, and, more often than not, more photos. It’s this last response that led me to theorize the personality of the Dick Pic Narcissist. As new opinions, descriptions, and experiences emerge, my curiosity and my inquiry continue onward.