→ Life Models /NPOAS – Renan Bulgari

Life Models

/Not Putting On A Shirt

Life Models is a live figure drawing class that redefined the beauty standards for women with breast cancer. We took over a regularly scheduled figure drawing class, where typically nude models pose for student artists. Unbeknownst to the students, we brought in an unconventional model—a woman who chose to go flat after mastectomy. This experience surprised and challenged artists to defy beauty standards—the same standards that coerce women with breast cancer to undergo reconstructive surgery without being offered AFC as an alternative.

We displayed 30 original artworks from the class at an art exhibition in NYC, and invited members of the flat community, women with breast cancer, surgeons, and the general public. Both the class and exhibit were captured in a short film, which has become a powerful educational tool, moving AFC outside of the medical setting and bringing it into our culture through art.