By PROUD & Kinky Staff

How does your kink identity influence your creative work?

I’ve been making art my whole life, but the intersection of kink and creativity for me is where I started performing. When I started in burlesque, I was exposed to an entire world of queerness and kink I’d never experienced before. It changed my entire life overnight and put me on the path to piecing together exactly who I am and what I want. I feel that all of my creative work is informed by this, either directly or indirectly.

Photo of Saint Anique by Chase Stevens

What themes of BDSM, power exchange, or sensuality show up in your art most often, and why?

For me, the two main themes that show up in my work are dominance and pleasure/pain.

When I’m performing, I am in complete control of myself as well as the room. I draw on my experience as a professional dominatrix when confidently connecting with my audience.

The more obvious theme is pleasure and pain, because at the end of the day, I’m still a little bit of a masochist. I incorporate traditional shocking sideshow elements with a more sensual twist, such as a bed of nails, a blockhead, and staples/piercing play, and I have a lot of fun on stage, bleeding and turning people on.

What’s something unexpected or even silly that turns you on or sparks your creativity?

The most important and engaging turn on someone can bring to the table is being funny. What we do is very serious, but we should never take ourselves too seriously. If you can’t bring a silly goose energy to the function, please stay home.

Photo of Saint Anique by Tiffany Salerno

How do you navigate visibility as a kinky artist in public or professional spaces?

As a full-time performer, I am very visible. I don’t have a day job or a space where I have to live a double life, and I’m fortunate for that. I’m fortunate to have this be my normal day-to-day and navigate it as such.

Photo of Saint Anique by Tiffany Salerno

What reactions have you received, positive or negative, when your work openly explores kink or queerness?

I live this life authentically and very publicly. I feel it’s both a privilege and a sacrifice to do so. I would be lying if I said it hasn’t cost me work or brought on unwarranted judgment, but that just means those spaces, jobs, and people are not for me. (The only time it feels very apparent to me and where I face the most judgment is when dealing with heteronormative people and spaces.)

Saint Anique at the Fetish and Fantasy Ball

This article was originally published in issue 7 of PROUD & Kinky Magazine. You may read it in its original format here.

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