We’re looking forward to introducing you to Penny Slinger. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Penny, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? Would YOU hire you? Why or why not?
I would hire me because I am an incredibly creative spirit who sees and understands new ways to do anything. I can bring that spirit to anything I may tackle, which would make me a valuable asset to any project. I think outside the box and have spent a lifetime breaking boxes, through my art and through the nature of my being. I have vast Intuitive understanding, coupled with a plethora of knowledge and experience in the application of various media. I am positive and enthusiastic. My mind moves quickly and I can embrace and integrate various perspectives. I am a great collaborator, with years of experience in collaborating under my belt. I actively pursue collaboration as I feel it is important to promote. I would be inspiring to any creative team and I enjoy the challenge of bringing my vision to new projects.
When I was asked by Dior in 2019 to transform their whole historic and iconic building at 30 Avenue Montaigne, Paris, I was able, with the help of my partner Dhiren Dasu, to step up to this project. I envisioned the whole transformation and designed and oversaw every detail of this complex installation. Every salon was transformed by being covered completely, walls, floors and ceiling, with images of the elements, most of which being photographs taken on our travels. A giant ‘Tree of Life’ was constructed and installed within the central staircase of the building, piercing all the floors. I also was able to have 4 life size female sculptures made, using techniques of 3-D modelling, in as style reminiscent of, and tribute to, the elegant historic sculptures that adorn the buildings of Paris. On the facade of he building I designed a huge lenticular artwork, featuring multi ethnic models combined with images of the elements. In collaboration with Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri, , I designed the ‘last look’ of the haute couture fashion show, a golden wearable dollhouse, based on the facade of 30 Avenue Montaigne, symbolizing the alchemy that had been performed here. I also went on to design a Miss Dior bag, also based on the building’s facade, in a gold and silver version.
I believe this demonstrates how desirable the services I have to offer are, how I can rise to any occasion and how I can focus my talents and gifts on any project I am asked to take on. I can think big and manifest on a grand scale.
Why would someone not want to hire me? I can only think that my age, 77, would be a deterrent. But that is only ageism obscuring value.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am Penny Slinger, an artist who has been working in various median since 1960s, with a focus on the liberation of the feminine and deriving inspiration from both Surrealism and Tantra. Not only has my work been exhibited in many prominent galleries, and is in major collections, such as Tate Britain, I have also written, co-written and illustrated several books, including the best seller (over 1 million copies) Sexual Secrets, The Alchemy of Ecstasy. I have worked, and continue to work, in many different mediums, including painting, sculpture, photography, film making, performance art, printmaking and immersive installations. Collage is my primary medium and I have published to date 4 books of my photographic collage. I continue to work on the cutting edge of technologies, my current project being a collaboration with AI, co-creating with it a deck of oracle cards. I had made an oracle deck in the 1970s entitled the Secret Dakini Oracle, made using cut and paste analogue collage and published by US Games and Systems. In 2010 I released a second oracle on line, entitled The 64 Dakini Oracle, made using techniques of digital collage, using photoshop. The recent oracle the Animal Dakini Oracle is being made in conversation with AI, and represents the latest iteration of the collage process in making art.
The key here is understanding that one’s vision is paramount, and all the various technologies are but means to manifest that vision. Without real content that one wants to bring through, technology is an empty capsule.
I was born and raised in England, but I have been living in the US since 1994, and in downtown LA since 2017. I have had a unique career as at the end of the 1970s, having achieved a great level of success as a young artist, I left England to work on a publishing project in the US. From there I went to the Caribbean where I resided for 15 years, using my artistic skills to enhance the culture of the island and chart its Pre-Columbian history. I came back to the US in 1994 and spent the next 20 plus years focusing on performance art and in resurrecting the Divine Feminine. I returned to the world of fine art with exhibitions in 2009 at Tate St Ives and in the exhibition in Manchester entitled Angels of Anarchy. Since then I have received recognition for my seminal work in art and consciousness, in particular the role of the feminine in art. I have published a number of books, films and videos, as well as having my work widely exhibited.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Who was I before the world told me who I had to be? I was myself. I always have been marching to the beat of my own drum. I do not care what the world tells me I have to be. I see my role as telling the world who I am, in everything I do, and in making that a template for others to step up and be unafraid to be their true selves. The structures of this world try to keep us from being truly expansive, from realizing our full potential. As difficult and unrewarding as it has been at times, that is the flag I fly and I see no higher calling but to keep that flag held high. I believe it is the duty of the artist to fully be themselves. They stand outside the social norm, observing and reflecting back, through their work, a vision of something beyond the mundane. A true artist is a visionary and their offerings carry the seeds of change, of evolution and of possibility.
So I have made my career around the idea of self definition, of not allowing the world to tell me who to be, but of boldly and proudly presenting who I am, how I see myself. I have done this through my art. This is not an ego trip, although to the untrained ear it may sound that way! You see I believe that we are multi dimensional beings and that who we truly are stretches way beyond the limited ideas of the self that we hold. If I can redefine myself, it sets up a standing wave of possibility that opens the way for others to do the same. In service of this intention, I have often used my own image in my art, from my teenage years on. I have attempted to show not just my surfaces, but the inner workings of my psyche. Seeing that women in Art have historically mainly been represented by male artists, I wanted to take that right back and present my self myself. In doing this, I felt I could penetrate through surface value and get more to the heart of things, In this way I could tell the world who I am, rather than have it tell me who to be.
I have spoken the truth of my being, in as uncensored way as I can , for I feel that the power of ruthless integrity is like a bell ringing in clear space that can speak to all with ears to hear. It is a welcome resonance that cuts through all the noise and can help bring us back to ourselves and the miraculous potential we hold as human beings.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
The world is often not a kindly place for those with big dreams. It makes you feel like giving up on a daily basis. And, it appears, it never lets up. You never get to a place where you can just relax and coast. Well, I speak for myself, perhaps some artist do, but I don’t know any. You have to be incredibly confident in yourself to keep going, no matter what. No matter what feedback you do or do not get from the world, you need to maintain adamantine faith in your own abilities and the uniqueness of your contribution. This faith will be tested time and time again, and on a daily basis. To keep going you have to have the strength of a lion and bucket loads of resilience! The life of an artist is one where, if you embrace it, you throw worldly security out of the window and need to find a place of security within yourself that is untouched by what anyone else may think or say. It is an unswerving belief that needs to be serviced every day by your own unwavering devotion to your path. So, the answer is, yes often so much conspires to make you feel like giving up. But have I really ever seriously considered it? No, its not possible. If I gave up on my art, it would be equivalent to giving up on life and I don’t want to do that, because this life is precious. I want to keep going until I breathe my last breath, even if it can so often feel so pointless and unsupported. Each day I need to reprogram myself with positivity in order to carry on. The life of an artist is not for sissies, even though one of the prime components of being a great artist is in having deep sensitivity.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes, the public version of myself is my inner truth laid bare. I have attempted all my life to be as transparent as possible, for I feel only with real authenticity can one touch to the heart of things. In this endeavor, I have sought to reveal the soft dark underbelly, as well as the surface sheen. I have opened up those hidden cupboards, pulled out the skeletons inside, and brought them into the light of day for scrutiny. My modus operandi has been to own all parts of myself, the light and the dark, in order to be a fully integrated human being. I have held up that mirror to myself, displaying my findings, so that others may see their own reflections looking back, warts and all, and know that they are not alone and that they are worthy and eligible, in the entirety of their being. We are all wounded. No point in covering up those wounds and pretending that they do not exist if you are trying to lay out a heroine’s path. You want to map a path for others to use as a blueprint and discover their own inner heroine. For that to work, those who behold the work need to feel resonance, and that can only happen, I believe, with unbending honesty and a bravery that comes from the inner conviction that these revelations have purpose and can help us all heal.
So being one’s own muse, a path that I have actively promoted throughout my artistic career, has nothing to do with vanity. It is about trying to delve deeply enough into the nature of the self that one retrieves treasures that are universally applicable, that can encourage others in their process of self discovery and self expression. That is why I have, deliberately and purposefully, made public all those parts of the self we so often keep private. There is nothing I am ashamed of, including my own naked body. I believe in ‘Original Innocence’ and I have exposed myself publicly to prove it. Only when we break through all the taboos do we get to the substrata of what really is.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
At this time in my life, this is something that I think about a lot, as I have always been convinced that I have an important legacy to leave, one that actually means something and can support the lives of others. To this end, I have been working on my archives, as I want to leave an articulate record of my passage through life and art. So much has transpired over my career as an artist. My work and associated documentation, is a record of these shifts in consciousness, culture and media. I have played a significant role in the liberation of the feminine, I have embraced new media as it has appeared. I have cultivated community. I have encouraged the evolution of consciousness, first by digging deeply into my own psychology, then by engagement with the frequencies of the Divine Feminine as a meaningful and appropriate tool in this endeavor. I have sought to record for posterity all these iterations and find relevant forms of media through which to express them. My path has been unique and I pray that I may be able to leave this as a meaningful legacy, not just for the fulfillment of my path as an artist, but as a map that others can follow, each in their own way, for their own self realization.
In an ideal scenario, I would receive the backing I need to create my own legacy, for no one can tell my story as well as I can tell it myself. I have all the materials and incentive to do this while I am still a living, breathing human being. I would like to have a virtual and physical archive of my life and work, which I could design to be an interactive resource to encourage the creativity of others and create a living legacy that would never die.
To sum up, I would like my story to be a major chapter in Herstory, in the reclaiming of the right of the feminine to fully be herself and my story being seen as a Heroine’s journey in the creating of the new mythos.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pennyslinger.com
- Instagram: pennyslinger
- Facebook: Penny Slinger, Penny Slinger Artist
Image Credits
Portrait. Penny portrait, photo by Nick Berardi, 2025.
1. I Speak What I See, photo collage from Mouthpieces series, 1973. Copyright Penny Slinger, courtesy V & A Museum, London.
2. Tribunal, photo collage from An Exorcism series, 1969-77. Copyright Penny Slinger, courtesy Verbunde Collection.
3. Stop the Flow, photo collage from An Exorcism series, 1969-77. Copyright Penny Slinger.
4. Reflections. photo collage from An Exorcism series, 1969-77. Copyright Penny Slinger.
5. Anacaona, acrylic, gold leaf, macaw feathers on canvas, from Arawak series, 1988. Copyright Penny Slinger.
6. Stairway with Tree, Dior Installation, 2019. Copyright Penny Slinger.
7. St Sebastienne, photo collage from My Body in a Box, Pandemic series, 2020. Copyright Penny Slinger.
8. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, photo collage from Women of the Rocks series, 2020. Copyright Penny Slinger.
9. Crane Emissary, artwork created in collaboration with AI, from Animal Dakini Oracle, 2025. Copyright Penny Slinger.
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