Stephanie Sarley

Stephanie Sarley (born ) is a contemporary American multimedia artist known for her surrealistic humor.

An illustrator, printmaker, and video artist, Sarley is inspired by the "psychology of kink". She is best known for her "fruit art videos", which appeared on Instagram beginning in late 2015. Additionally, she is known for creating a series of flower-themed and talking vaginas known as "Orcunts" and "Crotch Monsters." She is the author of the adult coloring book Dick Dog and Friends.

Her work has been exhibited internationally.

Early life Sarley was born in Berkeley, California, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. There she was raised by a family of artists who tended to take her to museums in the San Francisco area to "draw from the masters." Her father is a storyboard artist in Hollywood and her grandfather took part in the art scene as well. Her mother directed "Women in Film," a film festival. Sarley knew she wanted to be an artist by the time she was 11 years old. "When I was young, I studied the masters but I didn't realize at the time the masters were only men", she said. "I didn't have that perspective at the time."

Sarley is best known for her fruit-art videos. Sarley states, "My work is about representing raw femininity in the arts." Regarding Instagram's removal of her page and photos, Sarley has stated "Removing my photos from social media has given my art an extra dimension. It has become a form of protest. "

Sarley's work is best recognized by multiple illustrative constructs. Some examples are the "crotch monsters", anthropomorphized vulvae, the "orcunts": part orchids, part vaginas, and the fruit art videos.

Publications In 2013, Sarley published the adult coloring book Dick Dog And Friends which had been distributed via the Last Gasp. art Das Kunstmagazin, and Elle Brazil. Sarely's art has also appeared in the "munchies" section of Vice Magazine.

In 2016 Artsy magazine recognized Sarley as one of the "8 Women Who Turned Food into Feminist Art."

Reception Sarley has been referred to as the "patron saint of vagina drawings." Noted art critics have praised her videos, some calling it "Genius," in print and online.

Sarley's Instagram account has been disabled numerous times for "sexually explicit content" regarding her fruit videos. Sarley struggled with copyright over her original clips, and received negative comments from followers over the explicit nature of her work. After informing Instagram about this, the company shut down her account over its “sexually suggestive” content. Her account has been restored due to community pressure on instagram.

Miley Cyrus was accused of plagiarizing Sarley's work in promotional videos for her EP, She Is Coming. The media recognized that the promotions were a copy of Sarley's "fruit porn". Sarley, however, has not been contacted by Cyrus or any Cyrus representatives.

Feminism Sarley believes that women "haven’t been represented in the arts and now it’s just normalized."

In popular culture The controversy surrounding her Instagram was mentioned in Harper's Magazines weekly review for March 15, 2016. Sarley's fruit art was featured on several Canal+ French television shows including L'Émission d'Antoine. Cosmopolitan named Sarley as one of the Twenty Best Vagina Moments of 2016. Calvin Klein has been noted for being heavily influenced by Sarley's work in one of their advertisement series. Loewe's spring/summer campaign of 2017, photographed by Steven Meisel is recognized for being in the style of Sarley's work.