Pixy Liao is representative of a new generation of artists experimenting and exploring the possibilities of portraiture and photography. Her current project, Experimental Relationship, which began in 2007. In this series, she portrays photographs of herself and her Japanese boyfriend, Moro, to explore ways in which national cultures influence and even inform relationships-specific interactions. In her photographs, Liao often poses in a dominant role, while her boyfriend adopts a position of submission. Five years to her junior, she recognizes in Moro a great source of inspiration for her series, and explains: "Moro allowed me to realize that heterosexual relationships did not need to be standardized. The purpose of this experiment is to break the pattern inherent in heterosexual relationships to make room for new forms of balance. Liao structures her images so that she often appears over her boyfriend, to look at him, or fully dressed while he is naked. These subtle stagings stand in the opposite of our expectations of gender roles.

Curator of the exhibition: Holly Roussel.
Exhibition co-produced by the Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival and the Rencontres d'Arles.
2018 Laureate of the Jimei x Arles Award - Madame Figaro Women Photographers Award.