Skintease
Soph Li Rong Tan
STUDENT'S ARTWORK
ARTIST STATEMENT
I feel helpless when it comes to my eczema. I feel like all I can do is to let people stare in repulsion and accept it as my fate. It's a similar feeling of helplessness to that of presenting female, but instead of repulsion, bodies like mine are expected to be producers of desire. In a world fuelled and dominated by male desire, there is a permanent subconscious effort to always be appealing. No matter what I do, I will have this condition. No matter what I do, my body will always have to be readily accessible for consumption. For this work, I wanted to experiment with the juxtaposition of my body simultaneously being a producer of desire and disgust, using video to engage with feminist film theory concerning the male gaze. The name Skintease is a play on the word “striptease”, as I explore the relationship between my skin and sensuality, and the body as a material producer.
Artwork medium: Single-channel video
ARTIST INTRODUCTION
Soph is an aspiring media artist practicing on Bedegal land. They are currently studying Computer Science and Media Arts and interested in the intersection of technology, queerness and representations of the body. Their practice spans moving image, performance, writing, and creative code.
Acknowledgement of Country
UNSW School of Art & Design stands on an important place of learning and exchange first occupied by the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples.
We acknowledge the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land that our students and staff share, create and operate on. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend this respect to all First Nations peoples across Australia. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
