Breastfeeding:
2023 Performance
In this first iteration of Breastfeeding, Leiva stands in front of her audience in a small room wearing a breastplate made of kombucha leather, singing Yih'yu L'ratzon (a Jewish prayer), and feeding audience members milk from her zoomorphic six breasts. This performance took place in Baltimore, MD on the Maryland Institute College of Art campus.
Performance still, 2023.
Video excerpt from 2023 performance (filmed by Ruth Huang Xu).
Kombucha leather breastplate detail image, 2023.
Breastfeeding II:
2025 Performance
The second performance of Breastfeeding begins with Leiva standing on a pedestal wearing a dress that serves as a feeding apparatus. The artist then invites audience members to breastfeed while she hums the same hymn as the first performance. Leiva then stands and continues this process, ending the performance with a spoken monologue as an entity named The Feeder. This performance took place in Baltimore, MD for curator and MICA alumnus Maggie Wei’s thesis project titled Welcome to the Milk Factory, an exhibition related to the complexities surrounding motherhood.