Luyin Cao is a multidisciplinary artist from Longyan, Fujian, now based in London. Trained at the Slade School of Fine Art, she now works primarily with lacquer, integrating sculpture, installation, and performance.
She holds a piece from her project Shrine, Fertility and the Power, reflecting on reproductive rights and gendered labour through handcrafted lacquer objects.
What I wanted to express in my work was that, under control, childbirth has become alienated. It should be a natural and intimate process, a connection between you and a new life, but under various external pressures—society, family, workplace—this process has become like forced labour. Many women even have to shoulder heavy housework during pregnancy.
I realised that when society excessively praises the greatness of ‘motherly love,’ it often turns motherhood into an obligation. For example, a father who does a little housework is called a ‘good father,’ but a mother must shoulder far more responsibility than expected to be recognised as a ‘good mother.’ Even with holidays like Mother's Day, the reality of women's contributions and labor within the family far exceeds what these symbolic accolades can mask.