An audience talks to Pixy Yijun Liao after the dialogue about the meaning of her art work. MAY ZHOU / CHINA DAILY

Liao, who grew up in Shanghai, first taught herself graphic design after realizing she did not enjoy working in an office. “Then I found that my creativity was controlled by others in a design job, and decided to go abroad to study photography.”

At the University of Memphis, Liao met her current Japanese boyfriend five years her junior. Over the past eight years, she photographed herself and her boyfriend to explore the relationship between a man and woman.

“I was told such a relationship won’t last because he’s younger than me,” Liao said. “I should find a man who is older than me and more mature. This is why I called this series Experimental Relationship. I want to show that alternative relationships can work. I also wanted to see how long my relationship will last,” said Liao, now based in New York.

While exploring the intimacy and complexity of the relationship, Liao’s work is strongly rooted in the power dynamic between man and woman. While refusing to label herself a feminist, her leaning toward female power is evident in pieces such as I Told You So, A Photographer and Her Muse, Massage Time, and The King under Me, where the woman is portrayed as the more dominant one. “I am pro female,” Liao said.