Body; Broken Things
BY KAY LEE
oil on canvas
oil on canvas
Our bodies are the first of everything. They’re the first thing we encounter, and first space that we enter. Life ends when we leave the body behind. They’re our only means to reach and interact with the world, with everything. From the beginning of time, we have strived to interpret the body and its place in the world. However, oftentimes the understanding of the body rotated around that of man. Hence, other bodies were often manipulated and violated, to cater to man's body. They were blamed for human desires and pain, although they were in fact the real victims of that desire and pain.
In "Body; Broken Things," focuses exclusively on the female body, its place in this society and in this world. I speak of the damaged, violated and tormented. I depict female bodies in pain, social exploitation of feminine sexuality, and the manipulation of the female identity. As an East Asian Women myself, my body has experienced this world in ways many tormented women have; I have been subject to the male desire, been criticized for not catering to the expectation of what women should be and look like, and been called names for resisting the socially and culturally constructed idea of femininity. This frustration led me to explore what the feminine body is, the various forms and positions female bodies take, are forced to take, and their material identity. Butchers, 45"x32" Girls on Period, 30"x40" Kissing Girls, 30"x20" |