Editor,
The article "Nude models portray art of assurance" in the Daily Lobo on Monday brought up a good point. I'm still really hesitant telling certain people that I'm a nude model - people don't exactly have the most open minds when it comes to being naked. In fact, people often completely take it the wrong way and associate it immediately with sexuality.
My father is an artist; my mother is an architect; and my brothers and I are all musicians or artists, so art has always played a huge role in my life and family. I wouldn't call myself an artist, but I've been on the other side of the spectrum - drawing a model - and the model just becomes a figure occupying space, not a sex symbol.
A man recently asked me, "Do you ever get turned on when you're on stand?" This is a ridiculous question. People should open their minds to the possibility that nudity is beautiful, but not always sexual - it is an art form.
The first time I heard about a position opening for nude modeling, I never thought that it would be one of the hardest and most interesting jobs I'd ever have. Sitting in one or more positions for 15 to 30 minutes and being as still as possible is really difficult, but I think I can say for most models that after awhile, you begin to forget you're actually naked.
I think the most interesting thing is to see what every artist's
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
perception is of your body. We always tend to have our own perception of what our own body looks like, but when someone else represents your body on paper, it's always extremely fascinating. I've noticed that more beginning artists tend to use their own perception of what they think the human body is supposed to look like rather than what it actually looks like.
The media places such a high standard on what the human body should look like, when in reality, no one meets the standard. Even those who are on the covers of magazines are digitally touched up, so even they can't meet that standard in the real world.
After I modeled for a few months, I realized the idea of worrying about your own body becomes obsolete. Your body is never going to appear to other people the same way you see it, and your body will never be perfect. Society places a high price on being perfect, when in reality, perfect doesn't exist. Nude modeling was one of the best ways to begin to appreciate my own body for what it is, and not what it's supposed to be, not to mention a new and different appreciation for representational art.
William Blake said, "Art can never exist without naked beauty displayed." The human figure is one of the most interesting and beautiful things we as human beings possess. Adam and Eve were naked in the Garden of Eden - only once they sinned did they put clothes on.
Ana Watson
UNM student
