It has been for a very long time that arts can involve nudity. And there is no denying that nudity is also prominent in pornography.
So, what separates the two?
When does nudity in art crosses the line and considered pornography? And when does pornography's nudity is art?
People in Thailand were confronted with this question, when Jilamiga 'Fah' Chalermsuk, the managing director of Jill Mika and Fracora, a company that deals with premium imported cosmetic distributor brands, was forced to defend herself after posing a series of Instagram photos of her doing yoga poses while being totally naked.
According to Jilamiga, her poses aren't pornography, simply because her private parts, like her breasts and genitals, aren't clearly exposed.
Despite being provocative, she said that her poses are "sexy."
"This is called abstract nude art of the human body […] There is no editing or additional photoshop. It relies purely on the contortion of one’s body. We did it in the nude so every detail of the muscles can be shown," she said, adding that poses she did are acceptable and and a form of popular art from the West.
"You can see my bones, my scars … How is that sexy?"
"'Yoga helps to free my mind and body. It's an empowering and powerful way to create mindfulness and relaxation," she said.'
Jilamiga said that the photoshoot took a total six hours.
It all began when Jilamiga shared behind-the-scenes photos of what she said was a thesis project by a female Fine Arts student from Chiang Mai University.
But the debate only intensified, when Jilamiga shared the finished products on her Instagram account.
While she does receive a lot of positive feedback, in which many of the people who commented praised Jilamiga's talent and flexibility, others criticized her simply because she was totally nude in the photo.
Jilamiga never exposed her private regions, but seeing her totally nude is not something many people in Thailand were expecting to see, especially on Instagram.
"Does yoga entail spreading your pussy and flashing ass like this? How can this still be considered art? Don’t you have any shame left? When many yoga gurus do these kind of photo shoots, they don’t get naked. What do you really want to prove or showcase with this photoshoot?” wrote one commenter.
“Why do pretty girls love getting naked? Or is the old saying ‘you could be as beautiful as an angel, but you still have to strip down to be appreciated by mortal men’ true?” wrote another. (Editor: Wait, that’s an old saying? Eeesh.)
It's worth noting that Jilamiga is no stranger to scandals.
A few years before this, she was hotly criticized when her sex tapes with her boyfriend was leaked to the internet.
It is alleged that she made plenty of sex tapes, and that many of them can be found on porn websites.
In an interview, she said that her life turned up side down, and that she was so distressed by the leaked sex tapes that she had thoughts of committing suicide.
However, she got past that moment, and has since put more effort and dedication to her yoga practices.
