Meet Dominic – an artist living in London and supporting people living with HIV through his work.
He told us why he has chosen to support us and where you can grab a copy of the limited-edition Penile Papers to help him raise money.
Tell us about the Penile Papers
'I wanted to draw attention to the humble but ubiquitous phallic scribble that we’ve all either done or seen scrawled in the backs of books, walls, doors, cubicles and elsewhere. I was mostly interested in recording how different people would respond to the request for a drawing, and what their drawing of a penis would look like…which you can see by flicking through this book is anything but uniform.
'I worked on the design with Chris Colville-Walker and we decided to print it to the average dimensions of a penis, in so that when it is rolled up in your hand you’d have this little temporary sculptural phallus that sort of tied everything together. It's a bit of a nod to the phenomenon of the unsolicited (or solicited) dick pic but also makes a mockery of it at the same time.'
What are you hoping to achieve from the Penile Papers?
'Originally it was a tongue-in-cheek project but I think now it’s being released a year after the start of the pandemic I’m just hoping to put a smile on people’s faces.'
How did you first hear about us?
'I first heard about Terrence Higgins Trust when I moved to London as a teenager and accessed sexual health clinics there.'
Why did you choose to support us?
'I think it's such an important charity and voice for many different people from many different communities. Among many other achievements the trust has helped get rid of the stigma around HIV and more recently played an important role in lobbying the government to fund PReP.'
What would your advice be for someone doing a similar fundraiser?
'This project took a lot of time to put together, reaching out to lots of different people, editing, organising, working with a designer (Chris Colville-Walker) and a writer (Helena Haimes).
'Sometimes it feels like you won’t ever be able to tie it all up when you’re working on other things too, but if you just stick at it, like most things, it’ll come together.'
Thank you Dominic for your amazing support and hard work!
Purchase your copy of the Penile Papers
If you’re interested in fundraising for us, let us know your plans or you can send an email to the team at [email protected].
