Not all artists painting breasts are interested in them as sexual objects, but their erotic associations can be difficult to shake. “Or people just like sex.” Frustrated, she took a temporary break from breasts to focus on ankles and hands. Image In oil paintings such as “Figure and Monstera” (2022), Somaya Critchlow imbues her subjects with a sense of interiority and unapologetic sensuality. Credit... © Somaya Critchlow. Endowing them with exaggerated breasts is a provocation to the viewer to move past the obvious.

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