Curvy nude portraits are not common, and “Paint me like one of your French girls” is the famous line from Titanic that most people think of when they consider getting a nude portrait painted. I was fortunate enough to have a very similar experience in person with artist Mary Milliken, who paints empowering curvy nude portraits.
As I stripped off my clothes and lay down on the couch, I felt a bit awkward. Mary adjusted the lights so that they gave Mary’s eyes a chance to trace the outline of my body. Shockingly, instead of feeling more insecure, I began to feel like art. Watching her hands sketch, I relaxed into my breath, knowing that bodies have been the source of art forever.
“I love when folks see themselves in my work or feel empowered by my work. Existing as a fat person in an anti-fat world is radical, and loving your body despite the world demanding you change is extremely powerful. My body and my mom’s body were soft and curvy and never looked like the bodies I saw in art museums and magazines,” Mary stated.
“I grew up thinking that I must be doing something wrong, that my body was all wrong, and painting a fat body was a big no-no if I wanted to be a Serious Artist. Then I saw Jenny Saville’s work, “Strategy” (1994) at The Broad, and it completely changed my perspective on bodies and art. It blew my mind that someone who looked like me could be in a museum, and it inspired me to explore my body in my work. Now I paint plus size bodies because body diversity is interesting, attractive, artistic, and beautiful to me. Bodies don’t have to be thin to be inspiring or attractive. Plus size bodies have a lot of lines and curves which reflect light and color differently, and that’s what I enjoy painting and find aesthetically pleasing in figure art.”
Curvy Nude Portraits Can Ignite Self-Confidence
As Mary showed me all the different poses and sketches she did of me, I truly felt like a work of art. My body isn’t something to be ashamed of, but rather something that has grown and changed throughout my life, including the effects of injuries, and has carried me through this world.
There’s an undeniable vulnerability in baring yourself, but that vulnerability can be incredibly freeing. In those quiet moments, holding various poses, I felt both exposed and invincible. It was as though shedding my clothes also shed years of criticism, internal and external. By the end, the act of sitting for curvy nude portraits felt more and more like an act of self-acceptance.
As I hang my new curvy nude portraits in my house, it’s wonderful to see my body through an artist’s eyes and see my body for the work of art that it truly is!
