HALLOWED
I have done various forms of full service sex work since I was 18 in 2017. When I started, I had already accepted that violence was a part of sex work and that the work would always be underground and criminalized.
I eventually learned from sex worker organizers that violence is not inevitable and that better conditions are not only possible but urgently necessary.
I entered this contest because I wanted to honor the long history of sex workers who have pushed for those better conditions.
They have had a profound impact on my life, as they have taught me not to accept poverty and violence as inherent conditions for people working in the sex trade.
THE CULPRIT
Submitting to the OldPro Project art contest allowed me to integrate my identities as an artist and a sex worker, which I hadnt done before. As someone who has experience in the industry, I have first hand knowledge on the stigmas that surround it.
I feel almost vulnerable publicly announcing my occupation but it’s necessary to my fight towards sex workers rights. This piece shows the extremes that other marginalized sex workers had to go through in order to do their jobs and live their lives.
Sex work is real work and deserves to be respected without the violence and lack of rights it invokes.
— Artist Statement from Zoe Colmenares
Zoe Colmenares
