For life models, sitting, standing and lying down naked are just part of the job.
I spoke with three University of Kansas students who model for the Visual Arts Department — Valerie, Olivia and Maria — about what got them interested in modeling as a part-time job, what it’s like to be artists’ muses and if it’s weird to be naked for strangers.
“I like being able to see what for me is just sitting around, I like seeing what the art students do with that,” Valerie Kutcho said. “What creation they can make out of me sitting on my ass basically.”
“It’s not like they’re going to see anything that they don’t expect, you know?” Olivia Huels said.
“Standing here naked in front of these people is going to make me not worry about my stretch marks and the fat on my body,” Maria said. “Because like they’re just drawing lights and shadows and lines and that’s all I am. I’m just lights and shadows and lines.”
“I see paintings all the time of naked people and it’s just cool because you think, ‘That’s a real person. That person exists,'” Olivia said. “And now I am that person.”