Liquid Gold at Barn Light East

Statement from the Artist:

Breasts. Tits. Nipples. High Fashion’s fantasy. A working mother’s reality. With Liquid Gold, I bridge the gap to shed truth on this disparate dichotomy.

I am only able to express these ideas as an actual participant in each side of the paradox – through my younger years as a hyper-sexualized female living in New York City, to being a working mother of two children in Eugene, Oregon.

Since I first flipped through the pages of a V Magazine in 2001 I have been fascinated and captivated by these images – not for their aesthetic value, but incessantly questioning why they exist; what is their purpose? What do these images of the naked female form clad with High Fashion’s luxury garments and accessories represent? The questions resonate deeply with me and the images are a cornerstone of my work; endlessly collecting High Fashion magazines throughout the past 14 years.
Taking the breast from a sexual icon to a functional body part is something that makes our puritanical United States shudder. The breast produces all of the nutrients needed to sustain our children. And, ultimately, it is every mother’s natural birthright to breast feed their child. Unless, you are not in a privileged position to do so. While research is slim in terms of the average income of a woman who pumps breast milk, a 2016 Forbes article by Tara Haelle, reports that working women below the poverty line are, on high average, not able to pump for their children.

Liquid Gold ultimately exposes the false empowerment of the breast, of the female form, of motherhood. With this series, I want to express that ultimate truth, regardless of whether or not you want to see it.

Find Julie online at julieberkbuegler.com

The exhibition Liquid Gold by Julie Berkbuegler was on view April 8th – March 7th, 2018 at Slightly Cafe.