Motley Stephens is a queer artist living and working in Cleveland, Ohio. They studied Jewelry and Metals at the Cleveland Institute of Art, though the material has fascinated them from a very young age. Motley is originally from the American South and uses that experience to inform their work.
Motley Stephens
they/them
"I am a 3-D conceptual artist who works mostly in wearables and on the ergonomic scale. Informed by horror as an expression of queerness, my work explores the boundaries of gender and sexuality.”
“This piece specifically explores the experience of sexualization at a young age for queer folk, especially AFAB people. This piece finds the space of the forced performance of feminine sexuality in young queer individuals, referencing the very classic tying a knot in a cherry stem with your tongue trope.”
How does your work relate to the theme Adorned Serenity— How does the work function as a wearable safe space?
Cherry Pop! Fiber, gold plating, powder, and brass, 6"x8", 2023
“This piece is specific to any and all queer folk who can relate to the experience of compulsive heterosexuality, especially in younger years. This piece is exploring the idea of sexuality, especially false heterosexuality, as a performance for every except the wearer.”
How do you see this piece existing in the world as a wearable safe space?
Or is this piece specific to you?
If someone found this piece and needed an instruction manual to make the safe space work — what’s a quick how to?
“In order to use this piece, the wearer would slip the gold-plated chain over their head. The cherry form is meant to hang between an individual's breasts and when in use goes in the mouth. There is a hook inside of the cherry that forces the wearer to scoop out the knotted ring with their tongue, forcing them to perform in order to adorn themselves.”
“The chain is made from hand tied brass wire that is filed and shaped to mimic cherry stems in the same manner as the ring.”