Kiwi artist aims to bring sex to the people

Siren Deluxe

By Tova O'Brien

Controversy and warnings that nudity may offend are common catch cries when it comes to the work of Wellington artist Siren Deluxe.

Her latest exhibition, New Zealand Bound, takes an autobiographical look at her disenchantment and re-enchantment with the New Zealand art world.

Deluxe is a woman who finds sexual metaphors for everything in life, and last year bondage summed it up nicely.

"Basically I felt bound here," she says. "I felt trapped, I felt oppressed, I felt pretty much humiliated by the art world in New Zealand."

An art world she perceived as conservative and prudish, especially when it came to eroticism and sexuality.

"The sexuality of our art world is just absent."

So, sick of it all and in search of that missing something, she upped and left for the Big Apple – New York. But amongst other things, the abundance of small dogs and lack of grassy knolls made the city a let down.

"Basically the streets of New York in winter are covered in gold, but it's frozen urine," says Deluxe.

And the more she searched, the more disillusioned with New York she became.

"As for cutting edge art that really took my breath away, I didn't find any in New York."

So with reinvigorated Kiwi pride, Deluxe returned and summed it all up in an old duvet.

"Returning to New Zealand and realising this really was my home and that I actually had a role in New Zealand, which I conceitedly think is important - which is to bring sex to the people."

She has spent the last 10 years defending her artwork, and although she says it happens less these days, there's still room for misconceptions.

"It's upsetting when someone accuses you of making work which is morally bad, and it's offensive when someone implies that your interest in sexuality must come from some trauma from the past, because that's certainly not the case."

It's not long before the shackles come down. The exhibition at Wellington's Photospace Gallery wraps up this Saturday.

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