My Body Hair - Red Pillow

作品賞析

The artist Chang Bi-Lan uses dyed mud pigments (also known by their Japanese name, suihi-enogu), which have soft, gentle, translucent colors, to paint a flowering plant on rice paper. At first it seems like an elegant depiction of a blossoming shrub, but on closer examination, we realize that the plant grows from a vagina. Chang Bi-Lan comments that in Western art history, female nudes have never been painted with pubic hair, since it represents sexual rights; for male viewers to enjoy the process of viewing and domination, the female body must be hairless. Not reconciled to this kind of restraint, Chang attempts through the “My Body Hair” series to make a contrast. The Chinese name for the series translates literally to “barren land,” but here she deliberately adds some greenery and covers the “ground” with the tessellated pattern of a beautiful vase. The plant above is covered with flowers, symbolizing abundant vitality. Chang says, “The flowers are the body’s vegetation, and they have the same color as the body in full blush.”