This study explores the complex discourse around the artificial womb by examining various perspectives. It takes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from primitive art, mythology, medical images, feminist art, and contemporary ethical discussions in medicine and technology. It analyses self-gathered archives from institutions like the Wellcome Collection and the Warburg Institute. The aim is to understand how different eras and cultures have perceived reproduction and how these perceptions evolve with technological advancements. And envisioning how artificial wombs as medical technology could impact the body, humans and nature.

The practice in this research project mainly addresses how sculptural painting can be used to present the uterus's role in female identity and femininity, and how it can review and challenge the existing view. This research contributes to the discourse on female identity and reproductive autonomy, highlighting and imagining the possible condition of the identity of the mother becoming disembodied, and organs becoming bodiless, which can be tested in contemporary art.

Zixin Yan is an artist specializing in sculptural painting. A graduate of UAL (CSM) in 2023 and MRes at RCA (2024). Zixin's work explores painting through innovative experiments with materials and installations, reflecting diverse cultural experiences from living in China, Romania, and the UK. This multicultural background shapes a neutral perspective, using art as a barrier-free language to address universal questions. Recent projects, like "Artificial Wombs," delve into themes of female identity, balancing natural and technological advancements. Zixin’s practice-based research enriches the context of the work, pushing its boundaries to offer new insights and emotional depth.

• What is the relationship between nature and technology, and how can it be balanced?
• How might artificial womb technology impact human experiences and societal perceptions of birth and motherhood?
• What historical and contemporary contexts are relevant to understanding the implications of artificial womb technology?
• How can art be used as a research method to explore and imagine the future of artificial womb technology?

I created an archive of past representations of the uterus from The Wellcome Collection and The Warburg Institution, it constituted primitive art, mythology illustrations and medical images. During my image collection process, I observed that representations of the female body have been predominantly created by males. These images reveal the evolving perception of the female body: from worship in ancient cave art to the oppression of female sexuality in mythology, to the disenchantment of the body during the Enlightenment and Renaissance periods. Science has played a role in demystifying the female body, shifting the perspective from taboo to a subject of study, while also encroaching on natural processes. This led me to two questions: to what extent should technology surpass nature, and how can this balance be achieved? Additionally, how can we envision a future with artificial wombs that avoid repeating the historical repression of women?

Link to the archive

Methods-wise, Emma Talbot is the main artist reference I have for this project. Art is a space for imagining alternative futures, both utopian and dystopian, testing ground for what may be possible, whether desired or feared. Emma Talbot employs a collage of painting and sculpture to offer speculative storytelling, intertwining personal stories with mythological and historical imagery to reflect on human experience and history.

Similarly, I use large-scale painting to create an immersive experience for viewers and also in dialogue with the past. To create a conversation between reviewing the historical representation of the uterus and my personal experiences.

I produced a series of works to build this conversation, responding to my grown-up cultural background and the archive I collected. Within my sculptural painting practice, I develop an embodied imagination, exploring the internal female reproductive organs as allegorical landscapes. I focused on the flow of affection which responds to the historical representation of female affection but in an expressive way. It’s a discharge of the oppressed emotions because it is perceived as taboo. This is the painting language I developed which emphasises the fluidity of the female body and expresses the uterus as a wellspring of creativity. In this way, I could build the foundation for imagining a future with the artificial womb in a compassionate feminine way.

For the future imagination, based on the idea of the object as the carrier of history and stories, I did material visual studies to see what language they can convey due to their historical background. Through the collage of painting and material experiences, I want to create a narrative through visual language.