The Artist Body: Bodily Fluids

 

Milkscapes 2016, Aimee Koran
Breast milk on mylar, 
(Inkjets on paper and fabric)


Semen and Blood III. 1990. Andres Serrano


Blood and bodily fluids have been used with significance throughout ancient art to depict and illustrate scenes of violence and rituals of sacrifice. The Lascaux cave paintings are some of the earliest known examples of human creativity and were created with blood. Artists have used bodily fluids as a medium to represent a primal understanding of survival, belonging, and expression. Artists have used other media to symbolize bodily fluids and provoke emotions for shock value within human society. As intriguing to the audience as using human fluids can be, over time, blood has lost some of its sacred quality, where mass media has made entertainment out of images of sex and violence. In the 20th century, contemporary artists have used bodily fluids to protest violence and to raise awareness about diseases such as the HIV/Aids epidemic.

The use of blood has also been recognized to support discussion of cultural and political issues, such as abortion rights or examining the taboo around female menstruation. During the rise of 20th-century feminism, women wrestled with the perception of being victims of their own bodies, unable to control their own bleeding, or their legal right to bodily autonomy in terms of conception and carrying a pregnancy.

In the 21st century, contemporary artist and MFA student of Moore College of Art & Design, Aimee Koran, created a series called “Milkscapes” during a time of very early motherhood. In her studio, she often spent her limited creative hours with the added challenge of pumping milk and working with her baby strapped to her chest. One afternoon, Koran sat at her desk to pump and begin work, but her freshly pumped milk bottle spilled over the mylar. Once the fluid had dried on the mylar surface, Koran examined the crystallized milk in the light, which led her to explore the intricate design under the microscope. Koran used her observation of the bodily fluid and the significance of mother’s milk to focus on the dichotomy of attachment and autonomy. Much like Shigeko Kubota, who left Japan for NYC in the mid-20th century, many female artists across many media have encountered a general sense of dismissal in taste and aesthetics for the feminine art forms. This trope of Artist/Mother and the work of female artists influenced by and because of the existence of motherhood is often categorized with labels such as “overly sentimental” or their scope of work dismissed and assigned to “fiber crafts”. Artists continue to incorporate blood or other sacred bodily fluids to protest against gender inequality.

References
Koran, A 2016 https://aimeekoran.com/milkscapes/
Daeppen, K. Blood in (and as) Art. Daily Art Magazine. June 10, 2024. https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/blood-in-as-art/


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