Masks (1999)

Earthenware slip cast masks, underglaze and clear gaze

In this body of work Masks, I became concerned about my individual identity and being judged based on my racial appearance and the stereotypes imposed upon me as a Chinese-Australian. I made a series of masks by casting my own face, creating a plaster mould to slip cast masks of my own face. I made multiples masks, creating a small production line. I decided to paint each surface of the masks in a simplified uniform ‘Cantonese Opera’ 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’ my own stereotypical culture by undertaking this manufacturing process in my own studio.

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 that deal 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.