Spotlight on Serena

During the era in which she worked, Serena, a Southern California born Joni-Mitchell/Mia Farrow hybrid, believed that she was helping to change minds about sexual taboos and the right to personal freedom when she decided to enter adult movies.  Money was not the motivator; for her it was the opportunity to rally against conventionalism and spread the word about sexual liberation and an attainable “paradise” where people could be free to manifest their fantasies in demonstrative symbolic expression.  Contemplative at heart, Serena developed a sensibility to the human condition by osmosis, through the painful process of adolescence and teen years, due to a misdiagnosed mental health condition.  Today she has not strayed far from her hippie roots and philosophies.  Serena is soulful and works as an artist in multiple mediums, depending upon inspiration and the season.  

"Getting into baring my body was no 'moral choice'.  I was completely at ease in my nakedness; nudes were in abundance in etchings and prints about the house.  They were a part of my mother’s collection.  The figures on the walls of my childhood are nude women by the seashore in the moonlight.  And, having modeled for my father – who was a phenomenal photographer that raised a professional photographer - I was completely natural in front of a still camera."

"When I first started working in the Bay area, John Seeman was around and he was very gentle - this was all before Jamie [Gillis], who was the worst/best influence.  When I first got into films it was because I was a hippie and, like Alfred Kinsey, believed that people should be out fucking in the streets; walking around naked and on the grounds of Berkeley California and whatever.  Since I’ve moved to Northern California, it’s too cold up here to always be doing that.  But in the northern part of the state, it was pretty laid back and I was making films for all of the right reasons.  Bill [Margold] always calls me 'The last flowerchild'."   

"I know that I have a lot of power: 'Every man and every women is a Star'.  I used to write that out when autographing.  Unfortunately, because I didn’t have a lot of control over that power, it had a lot of control over me; it did make me almost insatiable as far as my sexual drive.  Luckily for all, most of my sexual drive was on camera.  That’s a double edge for me, because I hurt myself physically, but it also prolonged me getting more balance." 

"This group of women that are included in this book; we were all very special and we were special as a group, as a community of artists.   Like the 'Hudson River' school of porn.  I still have the taste of glamour that it gave me, and I’ve actually started to appreciate it more because at that time I was treated with stardom and deference, which is delightful and delicious.  You can eat it up, and as a young woman, that’s the really good part.  That’s why you put on lipstick and wear high heels.  You can get back to that if you look in the mirror every day and like what you see.  I felt I was an instrument of the message 'Peace, Love and Happiness'.  And still do."