Drawings
Since 2016, we have created Clitorosity chalk drawings with over 400 people across the US and 6 different countries.
We create collaborative street art to spark conversations about sexuality and relationships. We believe in the magic that happens when people come together to have more open conversations and celebrate across cultures and generations.
Wherever we go, we work with people who are from the area and familiar with the language and cultural context. We love sharing stories about the experience and the people we meet.
It has been incredible to create with people from all walks of life: mother-daughter duos, New York Times best-selling authors, engineers, bartenders, artists, primatologists, ship crew, deli workers, sexual educators, fin-tech entrepreneurs, students and retirees to list a few.
We are taking submissions for new locations for travel for Clitorosity. If you have any ideas of places for us to go or people for us to connect with, send us a message!
Queens, New York - April 2018
Born and raised in Queens, NY, Mo was so excited to help bring the first Clitorosity drawing in Queens to life in April of 2018. She picked the location for us, thought of the design and chose a message that tied together the location, movement, and her experiences. It was a much colder day than we anticipated, so thank you Mo for braving the cold, rolling up your sleeves to play with chalk and share your amazing energy with us. We are excited to share her reflections with you all:
Why did you pick the location?
"The Unisphere is so iconic, so uniquely Queens. It was commissioned for the World's Fair of 64/65, where the theme was "Peace Through Understanding" - with the theme of the Unisphere itself being global interdependence. So many diverse people and cultures use nearby Flushing Corona Park as their backyard, so I knew that it would be a really cool place to share this drawing."
What inspired the message and what does it mean?
"The Nas song, "The World is Yours" was one of my FAVORITE songs as a child. I'd never seen Scarface, so I didn't get the reference then, but just that phrase: "The World is Yours" is so powerful to a child - especially to a little brown kid growing up in the suburbs. Right now, it's a really crazy time for women and we need to be reminded that the world is ours TOO. I want women/girls/trans-people to see that the world is (should be) open to them."
What do you want to communicate through this drawing?
"The more that women and people with clitorises are aware of who they are, WHAT they are, the closer to freedom (emotional/sexual) they can be. I learned about sex and about the clitoris (the info on that wasn't very detailed, mind you) through the Encyclopedia Britannica because my parents wouldn't talk about it! And, I feel like a lot of other women of color experience the same thing. Being interested in your own genitalia and your own pleasure was seen as shameful or perverse, and even though that's slowly changing, it's not changing fast enough."
What was the experience of drawing like?
"COLD. Hahahaha, it was really freezing that day. But as our chalk struck the asphalt, and you started to see everything emerge, it was so wonderful! Even though I have a ton of coloring books at home - I don't make enough time to really sit down and get lost in the simple pleasure of making art that way. It was liberating to just be outside with the wind biting our fingers and watching our work blossom into something truly special."
Porto, Portugal - November 2017
We had the best time working with Fili Papinho, a Portuguese embroidery artist, to create this drawing in the city of Porto, Portugal. While brainstorming over coffee together, a lightbulb went off when she came up with the phrase and design. She shares her story below:
“’Voa, pombinha’ in Portuguese translates to ‘Fly, little dove’ in English. A pombinha is a small version of a ‘pomba’ or female pigeon in English. However, in our dictionaries, ‘pomba’ also translates to the ‘prude parts of a woman’. And little girls are taught that their vulva is their pombinha. It’s absurd and contradictory if we consider Portugal being a Catholic country and the dove being an important symbol of peace and purity.
For me, personally I grew up using this word to describe my vulva, but not with the negative connotation. I thought about all the the birds at the square, and when I found the dictionary page online, I knew we had to use the idea of the doves.
So we made this clit with wings! And wrote a positive message paired with it. I thought it would be a nice simple game with words that would get people’s attention - and it worked! One woman approached us, she was alone, and stopped and was curious to know what we were drawing. After a rough explanation, she immediately understood the cute part of this word play, and smiled!
With the phrase “Voa, pombinha I wanted to send a message of liberation. It is still taboo to talk about this topic. But I would use the word ‘pombinha’ to address the subject that shouldn’t be mentioned… when in fact this animal can fly! And that is a symbol of freedom. All this came together for me when I was challenged to draw a clitoris in Porto that was meaningful to me.”
Chicago, IL - February 2023
One woman walking by said, “Is that what I think it is?”
“What do you think it is?” we asked.
“The clitoris. It’s a shame more people don’t know what it looks like. Even my husband, a doctor, didn’t know.”
Later, a 73 year old woman sat down overlooking the lake and our drawing action on her daily walk on a rare sunny day in a very gray Chicago winter.
The wind blew a piece of white chalk her way, and she popped up to grab it, “Here is a piece of your chalk!”
We walked over to retrieve it from her, “Do you want to join us?”
“Can I?!” she exclaimed.
“Absolutely!” We helped her down from the ledge and admired her floral rain boots.
We handed her some pink and purple chalk. While she helped us fill in the outline, we spoke more about her pet ferrets, Clitorosity and what we were drawing today.
“Oh is that what this is?” She asked as she took a step back to get a wider view. “I have never seen the full structure before.” She was thrilled to learn more about the anatomy and we spoke more about exploring pleasure.
She was so thorough in making sure all the spots were filled in, “I haven’t played with chalk since I was a kid. I have been looking for more creative outlets. This whole time drawing and talking with you all, my body has been tingling!”
We finished up, took photos together and started to say our goodbyes as the sun was setting.
Before we walked away she said, “This has been so.. what’s the word?.. serendipitous, a synchronicity!”
It absolutely was.
Copenhagen, Denmark - September 2017
Three young women enjoyed the last bit of evening sun on a bench next to where we started drawing.
“A music note?” One guessed after the glans and one leg was finished. “What is it?”
“Why don’t we keep drawing and you keep guessing?”
“Sounds good!”
After the outline of the other leg was complete, they guessed again, “Scissors?”
“Not quite,” we answered.
After we finished the rest, they said they still weren’t sure. Then, we explained that it was a clitoris.
.
Immediately, two of the women looked at the third. “That’s what she thought! But she didn’t want to say it aloud.”
'Mere end en ært' means 'More than a pea' in Danish. Thank you to the lovely Danes that helped make our first international adventure possible :)