Gallery: The Emotionally Sensual Artwork of Soltian
Peacocks, rabbits, and hamsters dominate the art of Soltian, typified by a vast range of emotions, from aggressive to melancholic to serene.
Rabbits, as well as other animals — peacocks, hamsters, and cats — dominate her work, which is typified by a vast range of emotions, from aggressive to melancholic to serene.
“I’m always going for some kind of loud sort of expression,” she says. “My illustrations tend to be very suggestive or very erotic or very cute. It’s always about some kind of sensual pleasure or dramatic pain.”
A librarian by trade — she currently works at the National Institute of Medicine — Soltian nonetheless treats her art as a full-time vocation. Her online store, which describes her as a “crafter of indulgences,” sells various items based on her works, including pendants, keychains, and even life-sized pillowcases featuring popular comic book characters, such as Nightwing, with whom she admits to being somewhat obsessed.
Soltian, who defines herself as “solidly queer” and has been married to her wife since 2016, will be part of Awesome Con’s Pride Alley next weekend. A regular vendor (she tabled at the very first D.C. con), and a veteran of Anime conventions nationwide, this will be her time in the event’s LGBTQ artist corridor.
“I don’t know if this really does anything for me,” she says, “but I like to think of it more from an attendee point of view. You meet a lot of people of all ages that might want to be having conversations with people specifically about queer issues. And if they just know that there’s like a place literally called Pride Alley that’s just full of artists that are openly queer and making openly queer work, I think that’s very welcoming. You can really have a very positive impact that way.”
Browse Soltian’s artwork and shop online at www.soltian.net. Read Red Rabbit at www.redrabbitcomic.com.
Awesome Con is April 4 to 6, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. For more information or to purchase badges, visit www.awesome-con.com.
Scroll down to view more of Soltian’s works.
Click here to subscribe to our magazine and newsletter for free.
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.