ARTIST: Wiggly Lines
PRONOUNS: He/him/his
MEDIUM OF CHOICE: Paper and ink. I use notebook paper and ball-point pens for the initial sketch, then I use Faber-Castille Markers and a light-board to trace onto mixed media paper as well as the various shapes and tattoos, and then finally I use copic markers for the colors.
Meet artist Wiggly Lines. Scrolling through your instagram feed, it may just look like an innocent cartoon at first, but if you take a second look, these cartoons are about as erotic as they come! His “Wigglies” came from playing around with lines and patterns until they developed into what we see today! He says his style “really is a culmination of years of fucking around until I finally found something that worked.”
He grew up in a household surrounded by art, artists, and creators. “I also read a LOT of comics, like my Mom taught me to read using Calvin and Hobbes books that she had around the house. After that it was just in my DNA basically.” He always enjoyed art classes and was always doodling. “Even if my stuff wasn’t good I just enjoyed making shit and looking at art.” In high school he found himself sketching a sculpture by Alberto Giocometti with a sharpie he found laying around. “My teacher walked by and I could tell by her tone that she thought it was actually good and she said, “I like your line work, you should try doing a few more of those.” I started drawing little figures composed of nothing but lines, and one night I started drawing little wiggle people having sex. I put them away for years and focused on other art projects but a few years ago I stumbled across them and I started drawing them again.”
His inspiration comes from random places. “I’ll see a symbol on a traffic sign and like how it looks or the general shape. I’ll look through electronics blue-prints and like the shapes of certain lines… I just observe shit around me and if it catches my interest it’s going on a Wiggly.” When asked what artists influence him, there was of course the natural Tom of Finland and Keith Haring, both of which can be readily seen in his work, but also artists like Jim Henson, Dave McKean, Robert Crumb and Alison Bechdel.
We asked Wiggly Lines what role he feels art has in the queer community and he told us, “Art is vital to any community because it helps translate our individual experiences, perceptions, thoughts, dreams, etc. in a way that others can comprehend. It’s literally taking everything in your head and making something real and tangible from what is just a garbled bunch of abstract things in your head. The Queer community especially is a group which is consistently marginalized, but also has found a real solace and connection in expression.” His goal with his work is to make people smile and laugh and to show a positive view of sex and sexuality. For him, “sexuality is about fun and letting go and just being joyful.”
If you’d be interested in a piece of his artwork, reach out to him on Instagram (@lineswiggly)! While he doesn’t accept commissions, the work he posts is often times available!
