We were introduced to Emma Grima (she/her) and immediately were sucked into the work she makes. Emma's visual research and documentary photography revolve around women's rights and social behaviours. In this Erotic Art Gallery we shine light on one of her latest projects, as well as her graduation project at The Royal Academy of the Art, The Hague: Vulva Monologues. Her work takes you on a journey, and so we would like to invite you on this journey with us.
Emma Grima is a Maltese socially engaged visual researcher, with a practice between documentary photography and arts. In 2022 she graduated from The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague with a BA in Photography. Her topics revolve around womxn's rights, social behaviours, sexuality, and identity. She often collaborates with others, working with protagonists, creatives, NGOs, critical thinkers, and organisations. Emma enjoy a collective work environment and to-and-fro communication, as it grounds her purpose and strengthens her work. Her scope is to primarily achieve a visual platform that is impactful, starts a conversation, and lends a voice to stigmatised topics in a stand for change.
Creating is a way of life for me. The investment and approach into my projects always become a part of my world/life. My work is deeply rooted and inspired by my cultural heritage, my interaction with other people and somatic movement. I consider myself a visual researcher always trying to find answers to unknown questions through the process of my making. Apart from in person experiences I take big inspiration from other artists, authors, and philosophers.
For the start of this project Vulva Monologues some of my big inspirations are Rosi Braidotti, Katherine Rowland, Amia Srinivasan, Paula Rego, Peter Hujar, Justine Kurland, Nan Goldin, Tracey Emin, Carrie Mae Weems, Nadya Tolokonnikova, Erika Lust and many more.
For me the perfect setting is when my mind can be fully invested in the present moment with whom I'm with. When this is then reciprocal the body has ways of syncing up. Getting consumed, entangled, no inhibitions, raw, messy, genuine, creative, emotional. Pleasure is something learnt, this perfect setting takes time to establish. It is built on a level of trust and openness, and I guess what makes it perfect is that it is not so often experienced. Then the perfect physical setting for me would be a large space to move around freely and playfully. I enjoy having multiple comfortable areas around one’s home and sometimes to prepare a cosy corner on the floor with pillows and blankets.
It is about being on a conscious sexual pleasure journey. Two and a half years ago I took a first step guided by my curiosity to begin to understand what my autonomy was and meant for me. I wanted to have full confidence and ownership over my own body. Having an awareness of what my own authentic, autonomous sexual well-being is, is so important to be able to prioritise my pleasure.
We have been carrying the burden of our ancestral past and we are now slowly chiselling away the damage, the constructs, the stigmas, the taboos, and the shame that society has put upon us. I felt I needed to awaken my subconscious and strengthen my consciousness. We are on a constant, winding journey. Sexually, womxn go through several changes over their lifetime. Our desires and pleasures go through highs and lows and so we need to listen to and explore our individual bodies and communicate amongst ourselves.
My project Vulva Monologues started to grow from this personal journey. My scope is to work with and build a community of womxn who want to share their own autonomous sexual pleasure journeys. I am working on this project because I strongly believe in the importance of communication and sisterhood to be able to liberate and empower the topic of vulva pleasure.
Website: https://emmagrima.com/
Instagram: @emgrima
Podcast: https://vulvamonologues.com/
Project: https://emmagrima.com/Vulva-Monologues