The Process

My personal experience with body dysmorphic disorder has always been something I wanted to talk about but never dared to. It is also something so prevalent in today’s society (even more so in the gay community) and despite the current body-positivity movements, there is still a lot to be done in terms of acceptance.

Stemming from photo series titled Disappearing Act, I wanted to create a video that served as a performance and that could be projected in a variety of spaces and on various mediums. For this installation, Body of Work, I chose to screen it almost life-size and surround it with objects and photos that supported the message and idea of the video.

Bowl – The bowl in this installation represents the perfect form. So white and glazed that it goes against my final form when painted completely black. Bowls also carry connotations of femininity.

Rice – Rice is a form of sustenance and is the staple food in the Asian context. When placed beside the video, rice then becomes the source of black paint, transforming it into something that bears ideas of something toxic and the culprit of the destruction of my body.

Corset – The corset is a symbol of the idealism of the female body and its perfect form. It, however, holds so much meaning with regards to oppression and the objectification of the body. The way I contort my body to form a new silhouette holds a similarity to the way the corset is meant to shape.

Self-portraits – I wanted to present myself in the purest form. Clean from any physical or cosmetic alterations. My face and abdomen, therefore, serve as a reflection of my gaze in the video. It also suggests how one of the driving forces for this piece stems from something internal.

Artist Reference

I looked to performance artist Lee Wen when thinking about how I wanted to create my installation. Best known for his works Yellow Man and Journey of a Yellow Man where he covers his body with bright yellow paint as an expression of his ethnic identity and citizen of Singapore. Paint and colour are symbols that I resonate with due to their transformative abilities and strong visual language and metaphorical representations.

I also looked at his installation setups and props used during his performances. He is someone that is sensitive when it comes to using symbolism to illustrate his messages and I was drawn to his use of everyday objects that were both aesthetically pleasing and full of meaning.