Masks (1999)

Earthenware slip cast masks, underglaze and clear gaze

For this art work, I became concerned about my individual identity in relation to my racial appearance and the stereotypes that are imposed upon me as a Chinese-Australian, based on race. I made a series of masks by casting my own face, creating a plaster mould to create a slip casting mould. I made multiples masks, creating a small production line. I decided to paint each surface of the masks in a simplified uniform ‘Cantonese Opera’ mask design to represent a cliched representation of Chinese culture. The design was purposely simplified to represent a corporatised stereotypical cultural identity. I chose to use clear glaze on white earthenware for its commercial ‘product’ appearance and as a consequence was ‘manufacturing’ culture by undertaking this process.

As an Australian of Chinese descent, the relationship between my racial identity and personality have not always been apparent, quite often there is an expectation for me to behave in a Chinese manner, when my cultural outlook has mostly been informed by my Australian upbringing. In this work, I wanted to explore how individual identity has shifted in a globalising pluralistic society in Australia and how at times, I have felt a loss of individual identity because I have been compared to cultural and racial stereotypes.

Through a series of masks which deals with the surface of one's identity, I wanted to express that at times I have felt anonymous and perhaps voiceless in Australian society due to being categorised as Chinese. The work questions how the individual is perceived amongst the collective in society, when one is considered part of a minority migrant grouping.