Sex Stories - Shelby du Jour presents @scientwhest

Shelby du Jour is the new column of nss magazine.

With a focus on female sexual liberation, so well blended by contemporary media culture but poorly implemented on a daily basis, Sex Stories: Shelby du Jour offers a glimpse into the minds of today's youth and their position about sex and the foundations of relationships.

The first cool girl and opinionist is @scientwhest, digital artist and kinky girl.

#1 Describe your artistry. How did you get into digital collaging and photography?

I like to think I’ve always had a natural affinity toward what is bizarre, vulnerable and beautiful. I’ve always gravitated toward some type of artistic endeavor, whether it was musical or binging on adderall and sketching celebrity faces for 5 hours. Digital collaging started in my last year of college after I was required to take Photoshop classes for my major. It all started with bizarre food collages, putting human hearts as peach pits and ants as kiwi seeds. The captions almost always had sexual undertones. This evolved into me cutting phallic and yonic looking foods and placing them in the hands and mouths of porn performers. Which then evolved into me becoming way too lazy to cut shit out on Photoshop and deciding to overlay whole images that resembled the female form.

#2 What is your relationship with censorship? How has online censorship influenced your work?

In the beginning, online censorship, specifically on Instagram, was one of the driving forces behind my collage creation. Questions like, “How can I make this look exactly like a nude woman without actually showing anything explicit? How can I navigate around censorship?” were always on my mind. To this day, collages still get reported because the overlaying image seamlessly blends with their bodies, which I think is a good sign. Feels like I’m doing something right.

#3 Are you a sexual person? How would you describe your sexuality?

I am definitely a straight woman. It saddens me daily [haha]. However, I do think I am a very sexual person. I love conversations surrounding sex and sexuality. My friends always joke that I’m kinky, which I can be, but with the right person. Sex can be a great way to connect yourself with someone, but don’t expect to get all the good stuff right away from me. There is so much that goes into the exploration of our sexual selves and with our partners. I don’t necessarily like sharing my best techniques with lazy/selfish one nighters. This definitely took me some time to realize. Now, there has to be a level of sexual reciprocity, trust, respect, communication, and add a dash of physical and mental attraction. Voila! You got yourself a kinky girl.

#4 What are some personal/professional goals you hope to or have already accomplished this year? 

I do have some personal goals but I’d rather portray myself here as someone who is kind and gentle to myself [haha]. Good or bad, I wasn’t raised to be that way about life. When I feel defeated or lazy, I always hear my Sicilian mother’s voice telling me to “get my ass up, shake if off, and do it”. But on a real note, I need to get my ass up and start being active and eating healthier. I've been trying to make a habit of reading at least 5 hard-news articles a day, keeping up-to-date, staying woke and always checking my privilege. As far as professional goals, I finally found a job here in NYC after a year of interning. Doesn’t feel real, but I did it and I'm proud of myself. I’m a very practical person when it comes to work. If you want something, work persistently at it and do NOT expect someone to magically hand you a golden opportunity.

#5 You're not afraid to pose semi nude online - do you see this having any impact (positive or negative) on your professional career? What are your views on this? 

Surprisingly, no. Posting semi-nude photos of myself on Instagram has had 0 negative effect on my professional career (knocks on wood). In regards to my familial life, it caused a pretty big hiccup. In an attempt to cause drama in our already tumultuous family affairs, my aunt decided to email my father, my two uncles, and my mother, a screenshot of my IG approved semi-nude images with the subject: "shame," portraying me as a hooker with loose morals [haha]. The only person who semi-believed it was my conservative Italian father, literally shook his world. Side note, I love and accept sex workers, do your thing. But yeah, my father and stepmom were devastated and insisted that I tell my father anytime I wanted to take such scandalous images. I was like yeah… that’s not going to happen dad. I’m grown ass woman, and I can do whatever I want with my body (laughs).

#6 Describe the relationship between your sexuality and your artwork. How do they influence each other?

#7 When are you the most happy?