“Sex positivity is a theme I explore a lot in my figure drawings,” tattooer Brittny Abad points out. “Body- and sex-related topics were very taboo while I was growing up, so I left to figure out myself on my own terms.” A queer kid raised by ’80s pop culture, Abad’s Memphis-Milano siren song is set to a synth-pop beat. Using basic shapes in 8-bit color (the mood board of millennial childhood), she extends a guilt-free invitation to play with kink and fantasy.
“Drawing has been a way to let go of my inhibitions and express feelings of lust, love and loneliness. … I’m a girl who loves girls, so what I draw definitely focuses on the female body, but straight and trans people also find ways to relate,” because it’s not about form so much as feeling liberated. “I struggled for a while with what I thought people wanted from me. It changed my life when I started doing what made me happy.”
Photos © Brittny Abad