Born to Protect  2024

Medium: Sculpture, Performance

Materials: Swim Ring, Pork Fat

Size: 30*25cm, 70*20*70cm, 100*30*100cm

 

I was forced to undergo a plastic surgery—liposuction— during my time in the idol industry. Fat was removed from my legs and injected into my face to conform to the industry’s impossible standard: a slim body paired with a plump, youthful face. Through the pain and sorrow of this experience, I came to realize how deeply flawed and harmful these aesthetic standards for the female body are.

 

I longed to reclaim my fat, which was naturally meant to protect me—cushioning my bones and providing energy. To symbolize this, I boiled 60 kilograms of pork fat to extract oil, representing my lost fat, and filled different swim rings with oil and extracted fat. In Chinese, the term "swim ring" is also a colloquial metaphor for belly fat.

 

I then integrated these fat-filled swim rings into daily objects like scarves, gloves, and waist belts. I sleep on it, stand on it, touch and feel it, and even do boxing, attempting to coexist with the fat as a part of my identity. However, once the fat left my body, it became unbearably heavy to carry around—mirroring the lifelong burden of societal oppression and unrealistic expectations placed on the female body.