Everything I have read about this show, which has traveled across East Asia and was showing at the Tang Gallery last month, claims that the artist was trying to shock and discomfort the audience with "realistic" images of women's bodies. I don't know about that, the life-sized sculptures made of fiberglass were cold and distant and their hairless bodies and emotionless faces made them look like aliens. I was struck particularly by the piece above where a group of women gather sit collectively and soak their feet in a tub, yet each one is lost in their own thoughts and you feel a distance between each woman - "collective isolation"?
What I found interesting was the theme of skin, where the artist viewed the fragility of skin as lending vulnerability to women and thereby causing an alienation. I don't fully understand the argument, however I do find the theme of skin intriguing. Much unlike this artist, I believe skin has a resilience, it is tough yet sensitive to the touch.
What do we mean by "beyond skin", anyway? From my perspective, it means beyond barriers and boundaries. It also looks beyond what is on the surface (as opposed to looking past what is on the surface), it is a deconstruction of the self. Sometimes it is political and sometimes it is personal, this is because skin itself is the primary source of one's identity, and identity is both political and personal. Obviously, inspired by Nitin Sawhney whose album Beyond Skin came to me while I was in high school and grappling with skin, gender, sexuality, nationality issues. He writes in his album sleeve: "My identity and my history are defined only by myself -- beyond politics, beyond nationality and Beyond Skin"
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