Statement
"When I was in my early teens all I ever wanted was to be perfect, the perfect height, perfect weight, perfect hair, perfect skin and nails... Very quickly I realised that working towards the perfect daughter of the society was like walking towards a mirage. I was dominated by the anxiety of how I could fit into the male gaze." ~ Xu Yang.
Xu Yang (b. 1996, Shandong) is a London-based Chinese multi-disciplinary artist creating artwork with political undercurrents. Challenging - and being in contrast to - her Asian upbringing.
Born under the one-child policy, Xu had a strong sense of individuality from an early age. She was and continues to be inspired by and references 17th and 18th century western art history, especially the Rococo period, which is often seen via the male gaze. She is also influenced by contemporary drag performance, pop culture, cabaret, and theatre. Using herself as a model, Xu explores through painting, performance and photography the position of women in contemporary society.
Michel de Montaigne wrote in the 16th century: “We need to interpret interpretations more than to interpret things.” Transforming her body shape with silicone breasts, corsets, hip pads, wigs, and make-up allows for an investigation of the idealised female figure and social media’s use of Photoshop and image filters to body shame, and to reshape the value of the female. Probing themes of power and identity and the dialogue between painting’s contemporary iterations and its history, there is a concern with the emotional response triggered and the potential for its reinterpretation and translation.
Extending from feminism, Xu uses traditional oil techniques from historical artists, including Gentileschi and Rembrandt, to explore underlying questions within our current society. Xu asks: “What is gender identity? What is femininity? What is a mask? What is objectifying? How are we socially constructed?” She wants to explore the individual relationship with race, gender, the natural world and the manner in which she feels these relationships have all been constructed over years and generations through a queer and gendered filter. Xu is interested in mythological stories and how they influence our thinking, using symbolism to reimagine the male gaze.
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