Ani Liu

 Untitled (Milk fat globules)

Portrait of the artist’s breast milk, with imagery layered from the microscope and camera

The image has a scalloped edge to reference the shape of nursing pads, bra pads, nipple pasties, and anatomical illustrations of mammary glands. Referencing the cultural associations between flower shapes and breasts as well as the many layered informational exchanges through breast milk, the image explores both scientific and cultural aspects of performing this embodied labor.

Pictured is a portrait of my breast milk, with imagery layered from my microscope and camera. I chose a scalloped edge for the image because it evoked the shape of nursing pads, bra pads, pasties, and anatomical illustrations of mammary glands. My curiosity is piqued by the cultural associations between flower shapes and breasts, the many layered informational exchanges through breast milk, the sincere, tender love I feel from breastfeeding, along with the exhaustion (and mastitis, the bites, the leaks, the many unglamorous realities) of performing this embodied labor. Layered and contradictory, like most of life.

Medium:
Microscopic imagery, printed custom cut aluminum panel

Year:
2022

Related press:

NYTimes: What to See in N.Y.C. Galleries Right Now
Art in America: Ani Liu at Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space
Artnet News: Artist Ani Liu Has Some Radical Suggestions for What Pregnancy Could Look Like. It Begins With Artificial Wombs
The Brooklyn Rail: Art Seen, Ani Liu: Ecologies of Care
Science Friday: Processing Postpartum With AI And Synthetic Breast Milk Art
BOMB Magazine: Embodied Knowledge: Ani Liu Interviewed by Hallie McNeill
Hyperallergic: Your Concise New York Art Guide for June 2022