Nude photographs have been a subject of human artistic pieces for centuries, but University of Wisconsin Art student Mia Boulukos’ project entitled “SEND NUDES” has uprooted the old practice of depicting women through a male lens and focuses on the positivity and power that can be harnessed from a single nude photograph.

Boulukos has surrounded herself with and studied art the majority of her life. She attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City and she knew this was something she wanted to continue coming to UW.

Since joining the UW Art Department, Boulukos had an opportunity to hone her ideas through a variety of mediums including but not limited to oil, acrylic, wood, canvas, digital and most recently neon.

Boulukos’ SEND NUDES project came to life last fall, and since then, upwards of 80 women have chosen to participate, and over 40 works have been created.

Boulukos had no idea the degree to which this project would span social circles and generate attention, primarily over social media platforms.

“I started by wanting to paint female nude figures, and I had just asked a couple of my friends, and they were really interested in it and excited about the opportunity to send me a photo and be painted, and then I posted the progress of these paintings on my social media account where other people started sharing it and reaching out to me about what I was doing,” Boulukos said.

The timing of this project, however, was no accident.