(I selected two of my works to display here)
Title: Love you, thank you, see you
Material: Chinese watercolor on Toyo Gampi Paper and Xuan Paper
Statement: This project is a personal diary about the artist’s first love experience with a girl. It traces all different stages she felt in love: ecstasy towards love, inspection about sexuality, arguments with her parents, and self-reconciliation with this love. The artist wrote the character for love (爱) in Chinese for the whole project in order to release or calm down herself. In this way, she managed to experience more about love and to search the truth about her identity.
After Yuwei affirm that she belongs to LGBTQ+ group, she decided to make these two panels to speak out for her, to share this story and to recall more people to pay attention to this group. Yuwei wish these two rainbows of calligraphy could encourage the audiences to express their love, and to appreciate themselves as unique persons.
Title: Cloak Girl
Material: Rives BFK light weight, Mulberry paper
Cloak Girl was collaborated by Yuwei Lin, Dara Golding and Carson Waltlinton. This project was inspired by the conflicts between our inner world and outer world. Mind, emotions, collapses… All our internal consciousness or subconsciousness was deliberately covered by our organized appearance. At the same time, clothing served for the protection of the girl, not only for her mind, but also for her physical body. The poem written outside means to calm down all the rages, but also to shame all the gazes.
I don’t have an explanation
for my body.
There’s this depth of feeling.
A wish to be in
the shape
of someone else,
someone who doesn’t exist.
As the others whisper
my failings near columns,
it’s better to keep my eyes, my words,
away.
Because,
in the end
there are no exceptions.
Not for me—
Not saying
that I hate my body,
but I sometimes feel
this shame.
No confidence, and
privacy within.
Clothes are my arms,
beautiful arms
that deceive everyone
to praise them so
they will never look at
my body.
The shaping and reshaping.
The viewing and reviewing.
All of this,
costs so much
and you don’t care—
or choose not to help
when I say:
Please,
do not stare at me.
Can’t you feel that
your gaze is disgusting?
Are you satisfied?
I am never satisfied.
But
I know what I’m doing.
I’ve learned,
if not what to do every time,
how to find a way
this time.
Now
are you terrified?
I can do the reshaping I want,
the reviewing I want,
until I can pay the cost.
I can pay all of them.
My eyes are the ones staring.
My shape is the one speaking.
Are your eyes burned
by my color?
Is your stare chopped
by my rough edges?
Is your mouth sewn
by my anger?
Do you see that
in the end there
are no exceptions?
Not for me.
Not for you.
And so–
You deserve this.
I am growing stronger.
Now.
Yuwei Lin 