陰陽鳳眼 The Yin Yang Peacock
Magnus Thirteen
Pronouns: She/they
My artwork is about the representation of gender fluidity inspired by Asian mythological figures such as Guan Yin. I dressed up as 鳳眼 (Feng Yan), a persona I created for this project. Feng Yan is a gender-fluid deity of open-mindedness and sight, signifying the progressive world view of gender.
Not only does the persona represents my pride as a non-binary person, it also reflects my ties to Chinese heritage. Many Asian critics argued that homosexuality and gender non-conformity are western behaviors, despite numerous depictions of gender-fluidity and homosexuality across Asian literature. Drawn from my interest in mythology, performance, and animals, I drew visual elements from Asian mythology into my art, to support gender fluidity’s long establishment in Asian culture.
The swirling black and white colours of the costume represents Yin and Yang, the complementary principles of Chinese philosophy. Yin is associated with darkness, negativity, and femininity. Meanwhile, Yang is associated with light, positivity, and masculinity. I reinterpreted the interplay of opposites as the exchange between masculinity and femininity in my gender identity. The Yin and Yang principle can also be applied to Tai Chi, a meditation technique I performed in my video. After taking three lessons, I learned that the steps involve the principle of balance; the hard and soft, the quick and slow, the ability to shift weight without losing posture.
I used peacock as a motif for the costume for their flamboyant appearance and association with regality. Peacocks display their feathers to attract peahens' attention, oppose to the heterosexual male gaze portrayed in people's media. In cultural myths, the spots on the peacock’s feathers were viewed as all-seeing eyes, symbolising Sion and awareness. I reinterpreted the concept to encourage people to put views of gender in different perspectives, especiallty at an age where gender non-conforming people still struggle to be accepts in society.
Content Warning: innuendo
Not only does the persona represents my pride as a non-binary person, it also reflects my ties to Chinese heritage. Many Asian critics argued that homosexuality and gender non-conformity are western behaviors, despite numerous depictions of gender-fluidity and homosexuality across Asian literature. Drawn from my interest in mythology, performance, and animals, I drew visual elements from Asian mythology into my art, to support gender fluidity’s long establishment in Asian culture.
The swirling black and white colours of the costume represents Yin and Yang, the complementary principles of Chinese philosophy. Yin is associated with darkness, negativity, and femininity. Meanwhile, Yang is associated with light, positivity, and masculinity. I reinterpreted the interplay of opposites as the exchange between masculinity and femininity in my gender identity. The Yin and Yang principle can also be applied to Tai Chi, a meditation technique I performed in my video. After taking three lessons, I learned that the steps involve the principle of balance; the hard and soft, the quick and slow, the ability to shift weight without losing posture.
I used peacock as a motif for the costume for their flamboyant appearance and association with regality. Peacocks display their feathers to attract peahens' attention, oppose to the heterosexual male gaze portrayed in people's media. In cultural myths, the spots on the peacock’s feathers were viewed as all-seeing eyes, symbolising Sion and awareness. I reinterpreted the concept to encourage people to put views of gender in different perspectives, especiallty at an age where gender non-conforming people still struggle to be accepts in society.
Content Warning: innuendo
