Cyberotika.net is the wonderful online portfolio of artist and photographer Chad Michael Ward. With a style that touches on themes of horror, erotica, and fantasy, Ward’s artwork is a dizzying balance of light and dark, sex and sin, and modern eroticism.
His book, Black Rust, is a conceptual art collection released last year, which presents gloriously dark and sensual images. The full-color tome features new and never-before-seen art by Ward and boasts an introduction by Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, Planetary) and an afterword by Tim Bradstreet (Punisher, Hellblazer).
A leader in the “New Dark” set of artists, Ward is creating art that is both arousing and unsettling at once, and I for one am liking it very much.
| <?PHP print Create_Archive_Image_Tag('<% Content_ID %>', "chadward.jpg", "", " alt=\"\" border=\"1\" "); ?> |
| Click here for gallery. |
Chad Michael Ward: Since May 2002. It's a spinoff from my DigitalApocalypse.com site. Originally I was doing only digital art, but when I started doing erotic photography as well, I felt I needed a separate Website to showcase my erotic work so that it wouldn't get lost among the horror/band work on DigitalApocalypse.com.
TD: How would you describe your style as a photographer?
CMW: People have often referred to my work as "cybererotic," hence the name of the site. I tend to choose a more "alternative" type girl for my models; I like tattoos, piercings, and a generally unique-looking girl. Stylistically I enjoy very saturated, yet almost "antique" coloring, and I'm big on texture.
TD: Can you elaborate on this – how you incorporate light and color in developing an erotic and sexy look?
CMW: For me, erotica is more than just a pretty face or naked body. It's about composition and color theory. Whenever I do a shoot, I'm trying to evoke a mood, and the lighting and coloring needs to be created and/or adjusted to fit the moment. My wife, Danielle Bedics, does a lot of vintage and pin-up glamour photography as well, and I've learned a lot from her on lighting and coloring styles that evoke a more "nostalgic" emotion while still maintaining a modern erotic sensibility.
TD: Who are some of your influences?
CMW: There’s a wide variety of influences on my work. Everyone from Joel-Peter Witkin and Dave McKean to David LaChapelle to Ashley Wood. I'm also heavily influenced by video directors such as Chris Cunningham, Andrew Blake, Nathan "Karma" Cox, Floria Sigismondi, David Fincher, and Mark Romanek.
TD: Do you think having a Website is helpful in gaining exposure as an artist? I assume you get e-mails from people who just happened to find the site and really like your work, much as I did.
CMW: The Websites have been absolutely instrumental in getting exposure and work. I do very little advertising. More often than not, people's first exposure to my work comes from seeing one of my Websites.
TD: You’re also involved with Evil Angel and their DVD graphics division. Is that helpful in terms of having access to models/people in the adult industry?
CMW: I freelance for a small studio called DVDemon who handles all of Evil Angel's DVD menu graphics and authoring. Any DVD released from EA in the last two years has been conceptualized and designed under my guidance. Surprisingly though, I don't think a lot of people realize that I'm also a photographer/artist in addition to being a DVD menu designer and vice versa. There's actually very little crossover between my job with EA and my personal erotic work. Most of my models come from people I've met on the Internet or through other model friends.
TD: I assume you also have a computer/design background that you use in your DVD work.
CMW: I've been a Photoshop artist and designer for 10 years. Originally I was applying that talent to Web design, but when the dot-com industry crashed, I crossed over into the adult industry and applied the same type of design principles to DVD menus.
TD: What led you into the business of photography – and more specifically, highly erotic art and photography?
CMW: When I first started as an artist, I needed to shoot people for reference material. That eventually led to girls coming over and getting naked for my camera. It didn't take much to make the leap to erotic photography and once I moved to L.A., the porn aspect of it came naturally. I think it's every young man's dream to work with beautiful naked women and hey, to get paid for it, too. It doesn't get much better than that.
TD: What professional goals do you still have for yourself?
CMW: Ultimately, I would love to start directing – both for the adult industry and the music video industry.
TD: Any plans forthcoming with the Website?
CMW: Cyberotika.net is getting a major facelift. I recently launched my first adult pay site at SinGarden.com and am moving a lot of the nude/explicit work over to that site. Cyberotika will serve as more of a portfolio site and lead-in to SinGarden.com.
Thoughts, opinions, comments, suggestions, cheap shots, love letters, haranguing, personalized erotica? How about a cool site I should know about? Drop me a note at [email protected]. Or don't. I have a healthy self-image.
