Your New BBW BFF: Indie Model Erin Zerbe, In Her Own Words, and Worlds. Pt. 1

“Any time there is a fat person onstage as anything besides the butt of a joke, it’s political. Add physical movement, then dance, then sexuality and you have a revolutionary act.” —Heather MacAllister

E-thumbing through a portfolio of Erin Zerbe’s body of work, it soon becomes evident that her body is her work, and there’s a soulful body of thoughts supporting it. There’s an active mind at work, a life behind her expression. Plus Size Clothing Magazine is always looking for size-positive folks who inspire others as much as they find themselves inspired, and we’re honored to connect with Full Figured Model and Artist, Erin Zerbe in this interview.

First of all, thanks for taking the time to chat. So, Erin–are you a superhero, or what?

Superhero? No, not I! But I am SUPER dedicated to my positive message, and empowering women of ALL sizes to love their bodies and themselves. I’m honored to have an opportunity to share a positive message about being plus size with other ladies who struggle with health, weight, and body image.

When did your journey in plus size modeling begin, and how did that connect up with your artistic studies?

I’m a newbie in this big beautiful world of plus size modeling. I’ve been a big girl my whole life, and it really took me a long time to find beauty and comfort in my own skin. I’ve always dabbled in photography and video, so I’m extremely familiar with the process of working with other models, but I never considered myself one.

On my journey to learn to truly love my body, I decided to get some pictures taken for my fiancé. It was through this process I discovered my inner model. I absolutely adored everything about modeling! It was such a nice change to be in front of the camera instead of behind it.

My first official photo shoot was in March of last year. From there, I started small, working with other local photographers and built a portfolio. Now I do almost exclusively paid shoots for a variety of styles and photographers, and hope to see that grow.

As a graduate student, I was working part-time as a model to supplement my income for my studies. It was really a kind of “duh” moment when I realized so much of my work as an artist up until this point had been about sexuality, femininity, and society’s relationship to body image, that it just made sense to start to merge the two. So now I continue working as a model, and I also model for my personal artistic practice.

Your homepage at Zerbetron.com reads: “Artist, Model, Trouble Maker Extraordinaire….” Why “trouble maker?”

Haha! In the words of Laurel Thatcher Ulrich: “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” And I believe this to be true. My website is my online presence, my personal brand. So I wanted visitors to get a sense of me not only as a model and artist, but as a person as well. I’m loud, relentless, a spite-fire, even abrasive at times. But it’s all in the name of good fun and a good cause.

The trouble-maker part of me is the part that gets out and fights for size acceptance, that works to break down society’s hold on the lives and body images of ITS citizens and promote beauty in all shapes, and health at all sizes. When you go against the grain, you’re often called a trouble-maker, and it’s a moniker I wear with pride.

Right on!

There’s more to come from Ms. Erin. Watch this space for the second part of this interview.

Related Links:

Erin Zerbe’s Official Homepage

Related Articles:

Erin Zerbe Interview Pt. 1

Erin Zerbe Interview Pt. 2

Erin Zerbe Interview Pt. 3

Self Esteem in 60 Seconds (Erin is our Positive Pin-Up model for this article)