Touch Gallery – Seattle Erotic Art Festival (SEAF) 2020

Touch Gallery 

The 2020 Seattle Erotic Art Festival (SEAF) will be featuring the Touch Gallery, curated by Cyra Jane and populated with many stone carvings and other sculptures that are sensual and fun to touch.

This curated gallery within the larger festival premiered in 2018 and featured 17 sculptures by NWSSA members Cyra, Markos Weiss, Sabah Al-Daher, Ben Kimura, Tom Francis, Julie Pitman, Ed Salerno, Steve Sandry, Steve Rabago, Wakey Nelson, Woody Morris, Bob Olander, Mark Andrew, and Jocelyne Dodier. Ed Salerno and Sarah Tanksley were instrumental in helping organize and run the gallery as festival viewers were invited to don blindfolds and explore the sculptures by touch, guided either by one of the artists or by someone they trust. Our part of the show was a huge hit! Thousands of people interacted with our artworks and the Touch Gallery was hands down one of the favorite installations that year at SEAF. The show resulted in at least one sale.

In its 17^th year, SEAF has grown from an afternoon exhibit in Seattle’s Town Hall to a three-day extravaganza that attracts over 4,000 art lovers to view 300 works from local and international artists. In addition to the open gallery hours during the day, Friday and Saturday evenings feature lavish galas with music, performance art, and a thousand people each all dressed up, feeling good, and talking about the art surrounding them. While much of the work is explicit, much is also subtle, humorous, and sweetly sensual. You can find out more about the festival on their website: www.seattleerotic.org.

I’ve been attending SEAF since its first year, and it is one of my favorite events specifically because I’ve never seen another art show where people are so excited about the art and spend so much time with it. At the galas, most everyone spends hours circling the exhibits, picking out and voting on favorites, sharing their opinions and discussing artwork with both friends and strangers. In my history with SEAF, I’ve been part of a team of invited installation artists in 2010 (we won the People’s Choice award that year for our peek-a-boo dollhouse), a juried artist for marble works in 2016, and an invited installation artist with Touch in 2018. This year I’m officially a Guest Festival Curator and will be partially curating the Touch Gallery with NWSSA members and partially jurying from SEAF submitters. We are limited to 12 pieces this year, and I encourage you to be a part of this!

Sculptures with interesting textures, nice curves, intriguing details, or exciting imagery are all encouraged. Figurative and abstract are both welcome. Because they will be handled, nothing too small or fragile will be accepted. Artists will be invited to guide participants through the gallery and will receive free entry into the festival. This year we are expanding out of just stone to include other materials – so bronze, steel, fibers, felt, and/or anything that delights and intrigues.

Thanks, Cyra
Email: Cyra Jane