Sidi Chen

Artist Statement 

My multidisciplinary practice focuses on the intersectionality of the body and the physical and conceptual environments to examine how experienced are formed, how identities are constructed, and relationships are constructed based on the locations. As a queer person, an immigrant, an uninvited guest, and a community worker, I am deeply inspired by my journey across diverse communities and cultures, and how my body and identities adapt to such movements. For the research and creative process, I employ the body as a unit of measurement, a sensor of reception, a dissector of experience, and the instrument for creativity; thus, I create to document and reincarnate the bodily experiences, community memories, emotions of the environments. Through my practice, I seek to present the marginalized stories, bridge the disconnection, and incubate resilience, sustainability, and revitalization in the community.

In this particular self-portrait, I presented myself as a lost and depressed figure in the vast and vibrant colors. As beautiful as the colors seem, they are often the protection colors that I learnt to put on to fit into the environment in concerns of showing my true colors would bring me danger or disconnection. In the process of making this piece, I realized that the fabrication of this coat is not how I want to be recognized as a living person; thus, I used all the paints in my box in this painting as a closure to the pretending and as a opening statement of seeing the truth to myself beyond the colors of my skins.