This self-portrait series is designed to put me into different social situations that contemporary Chinese women face to under the shadow of patriarchal society. Growing up in one of the youngest and most developed cities in China, I still have seen many women around being defined by stricter standards and rules than men. No matter in their career, family, or relationship, it seems that everyone is able to judge, comment, or tag them. China is a country that has been largely influenced by Confucianism, which promotes that women’s whole life is the practice of being vulnerable, desciplined, and fragile. The ubiquitous trial therefore forces women to always keep aware of how to behave in the society.

Impressed by Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills, I also tried to play a series of roles and photographed myself. I set up different typical mise-en-scène, immersed myself into the encounters, and dealt with them. The designed situations became my stage of performance. With my overexerted styling, I want to exaggerate the awkwardness and absurdity of contemporary Chinese women’s dilemma, expose their anxiety to themselves as well as to the whole society. My performance of being bizarre during actual shooting process also went long beyond being bizarre inside the 2D images, but was also a process of accpeting laughs from strangers at the public space. Through my photos, I hope to deliver a silent gaze to tell a confusion of self-identity.

Special Thanks to

Siliang Ma, Xiangyu Dong, Xujing Feng, Teresa Cha, and all of my models.