Soft, Feisty Femme: The Erotic Art of Yiwen Jiang

If you’re a follower of erotic artists on social media, you’re probably no stranger to cute illustrations depicting bondage, BDSM, and sexy ladies in all kinds of situations. But rarely is that art pulled off with the nuance and careful consideration of artists like Yiwen Jiang. 

Her images are not only of women in hot, sexy poses, but also femme folks caught in vulnerable moments like laying on the bed bottom-up, sneaking snacks from the fridge, generally living life and being real and transparent as sexual beings. 

Hailing from China but studying in Italy, Jiang has a fresh, unique perspective on erotica. She spent years feeling that being a femme, kinky person was wrong, that her spanking fetish and love for the erotic made her less than or immoral. Moving from China to Italy to study has opened her mind to the wide world of art, kink and queer expression and the fact that loving sex and creativity is a good thing. 

We were taken with her soft, elusive style, so we caught up with her to learn more about the secrets behind her art and technique. 

What first inspired you to be an artist and start drawing?
I started to draw when I was very little, when I was around 4 or 5 years old. At that time, my dad sent me to a drawing course just to develop my interest. I fell immediately in love with art, and since then, I haven’t stopped drawing. Drawing has slowly become an inseparable part of my being. It represents a way for me to lose my emotions. Nonetheless, what I do appreciate the most is when people are able to find their own feelings in my art. Thus, I think my art is cathartic for both my followers and myself.

What specifically made you interested in erotic art and illustration?
I have discovered my spanking kink since I was a child. Before July 2020 (the period in which I opened my Instagram page), I had a serious creativity block. Outside of commissions, I wasn’t really drawing anything I was interested in drawing.

To solve this issue, my boyfriend suggested me to start by portraying what I appreciated the most, and we have found out that was the erotic and the kinky world.

Thus, starting my Instagram project has helped me a lot to overcome my creativity issue, and at the same time, I have received an unexpected appreciation from my audience. I’ve never stopped since then, and I have discovered a very lovely and cheerful community. I’m so happy that I’m a part of this big family now .

What inspires your drawings and work?
My inspiration usually comes suddenly. It may be a scene from a movie or a certain passage of a novel.

For example, if I watch a scene of an open window with the sunshine pouring in, I’ll imagine a naked, beautiful woman laying down on her belly on a summer’s day, applying her nail polish. If I can picture a scene clearly in my mind, I will draw down the sketch immediately. Sometimes, I also, like, find some inspiration from vintage, erotic photos. Most of them are pretty vivid and full of creativity.

Why do you think erotic expression and sex positivity are so important?
Personally, drawing erotic art has helped me to find self-acceptance. Unfortunately, many people are still far from having fully accepted any form of sexual behavior which is consensual, whenever we talk about the LGBTQ community or, in my case, people who have special kinks. Some societies are worse than others over this aspect.

As I mentioned before, I have grown up in China, which is a country with an extreme, conservative attitude towards sexuality. Eventually, I started to think of myself as a disgusting and “sick” person. About three years ago, I came to Italy, and soon I met my boyfriend, who became the first person I ever told my little secret to. Beyond my expectations, he accepted me completely and gave me huge support, kept telling me that I’m completely normal and I have nothing wrong. I can’t thank him enough for that.

Also, now creating erotic art has helped me a lot to feel better about myself, and I want as many people like me as possible to see my works and understand, ‘I’m perfectly normal, and what I enjoy, it’s beautiful and not loathsome, as some people around me might tell me.’ 

What is the LGBTQ scene like where you are, and what do you wish was different or would change?
For what concerns the situation of the LGBTQ scene in Italy, right now, we are facing a hot debate on a draft law (DDL Zan) which is going to be voted soon.

This law will be a simple update on another existing law which punishes racial, ethnic, and religious discriminations, especially if they fall into public hate speech and violence. The new law would include among these social categories the members of the LGBTQ community.

I find it outrageous to see a debate taking place over such a basic, social measure. Right parties are adducing silly argumentations against the law, like, ‘It will limit free speech’ (while it doesn’t, just violent speech will be affected); ‘It will start a process leading to further discriminations towards women’ (while I can’t see any connection between already existing women discriminations and a future, LGBTQ social rights acceptance), or ‘They want to introduce our kids to the gender culture and try to convert them’ (which I don’t even want to comment about).

I hope this draft law won’t meet any further hindrance, and it will lead to a maturation of the political and public mentality in Italy.

What are your plans or goals for the future with art?
At the moment, I’m still attending art school, so unfortunately, I can’t keep creating erotic art as frequently as I want, but I do have many plans for the future! For now, I’m practicing tattooing and soon will start to take an apprenticeship; it’s something I always dreamed of doing, too! So, in the future, I hope I can develop my own style in tattooing and combine with the erotic theme, and also, I would like to keep creating erotic illustration and expanding myself in this community

Is there anything special you want to announce or promote?
Yes, thank you for asking! I plan to launch a DTIYS challenge (a challenge where artists recreate already existing work) at 15k followers and do a print give away, and also, I’ll release some new, fine-art prints in my store. Stay tuned!

Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I just wanna say, whatever is the social context you are living in, if you are convinced that nothing of what you enjoy and love is wrong or harmful to anyone, don’t ever think of yourself as deviant.

Go find your personal way to express who you are in your environment. There won’t be door slams forever!