Self Portrait  2024

Medium: Performance

Materials: Lipstick, Glass

 

I took my mother’s last name because my father’s family refused to name me simply because I was a girl. Yet, there is an irony: even though I bear my mother’s last name, it ultimately traces back to my grandfather. This contradiction leaves me questioning societal beliefs that tie identity and bloodlines to last names, where children—especially daughters—commonly inherit their father’s name. In many cultures, women are also expected to adopt their husband’s last name upon marriage.

 

I see this tradition as a product of patriarchy, and it compels me to reflect on women’s position within the lineage of last names. Using lipstick—a symbol of femininity—as my tool and weapon, I began the performance by applying it to my mouth, the organ of speech. Pressing my face against transparent glass as the invisible oppression ever female while repeatedly saying my last name-- 陈 CHEN, I left behind a physical trace: a mark that belongs to me and my name.Interestingly, the facial gesture is a big smile with my last name. This act culminates in a self-portrait within a patriarchal world, asserting my identity and reclaiming my place in a system that often seeks to erase it.