Interview, Derrick Jeffries

Derrick Jeffries explores close-up photography with an effect that suggests either disembodied parts or deep sea creatures, depending on which era of his work you are viewing. Jeffries beckons us to look a little closer at the world. It's a gentle nudge, but not without the intent of making you think about what you see.

Here's my conversation with Derrick:

Most of my work is centered around the parameter of scale. There is a rich diversity of form in the very small but there is a redundancy of that form where macro photography is concerned. The work in the Festival is part of my undergraduate thesis and the subject matter is plant based. It would initially (and commonly) be the flower that would be explored as an erotic subject in these instances since it is the sexual organ of the plant but I was more drawn to form than function. I explored the cellular structure of fleshy fruits and found that they closely resembled the volume, creasing and coloring of the human form. Once I avoided the obvious subject matter of the flower and looked towards the mimetic quality of subjects that pointed to, rather than were part of, erotic or sexual qualities, my search for the unexpected was easier.

I arrived at this series through a series of explorations with my digital camera. I will often reserve most of my creative time doing 'research' which is a long process of documentation and experimenting. I am actually unsure at when and how exactly I stumbled upon fruit as a subject matter but knew after a few photographs that the subject is rich in diversity. As to what it is I am trying to convey, I think that many viewers find an icky kinship with many of the forms. They both disturb and excite people because their forms are very primordial and sexual. Probing, warping, copulating and spawning are some of the implied actions and they speak to some of the more amoral aspects of eroticism.

What do you most look forward to in this year's Seattle Erotic Art Festival?

I look forward to meeting other artists who have similar aesthetic interests as my work. While it is sometimes difficult to define what it is an artist will be drawn to, it is easy to point to certain things and say, "That...I love that". My hopes is that I meet other artists who see eroticism in the same light as I do. Perhaps there will be an opportunity for collaboration.

Give us one thing you think is unexpectedly sexy:

I think casts on arms are sexy. I've never had a broken bone and I think I am drawn to the juvenille recklessness of people with broken arms. Casts assume a strange carapace quality as they are a shell protecting a fleshy and vulnerable interior. It's only on arms that I find this sexy for some reason.


Thanks Derrick, I really look forward to seeing your work at the show!

You can always read up on our artists; and to find out more about tickets and performances, please visit SeattleErotic.Org!

Derrick Jeffries, Cerebellum (detail) 2007 archival ink jet print
image courtesy of the artist