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Relic

Zihan Zhang

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I graduated with a degree in Architecture from Musashino Art University, Japan, where I developed a strong foundation in spatial design and interdisciplinary thinking. My cross-disciplinary background shaped a flexible and open artistic approach. I specialise in digital painting, blending traditional techniques with modern tools, while also exploring other media and styles. My work reflects themes of self, society, and philosophy. Always growing artistically.

I graduated with a degree in Architecture from Musashino Art University, Japan, where I developed...

A fictional visual project that reveals how science disguises exploitation by controlling alien reproductive bodies. Presented as a scientific journal, the work includes anatomical illustrations, embryo records, and official-style documents in a cold, clinical tone.

Final work

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Research and process

Despite modern progress, might we repeat past mistakes, ignoring ethics, exploiting non-human subjects, driven by primitive instincts?

Questions

Even in today’s advanced world, could we repeat past mistakes? Without clear ethics, might research ignore basic life values, especially for non-human subjects? Would we respect them, or revert to primal, violent instincts?

Through MATROGESTIS, a fictional alien replacing women in childbirth, my works show how control of female bodies persists, masked as liberation.

The World's Strongest Uterus: A ‘synthetic version’.

The story of the illustrations came from a personal interest in how society exploits the female body. I imagined and named a fictional species: MATROGESTIS; an alien life with an idealised cross-species womb, which is ultimately used to replace women in childbirth. While the system appears to liberate women from reproductive burdens, in truth, the cycle of domination continues, just in a new form.

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Relic

A fictional visual project that reveals how science disguises exploitation by controlling alien reproductive bodies. Presented as a scientific journal, the work includes anatomical illustrations, embryo records, and official-style documents in a cold, clinical tone.

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