I was born and raised in Taiwan. My background comes from the values of a traditional Asian family. Before I came to London, I had an ambiguous sense of self-identity and was afraid to accept or even hide my authentic self. I grew up in a traditional framework society where we were brought up to follow the rules and our parents were highly restrictive to children. After coming to London, I discovered that self-awareness and identity are very important and can make people really powerful and even affect the environment we are born into. Being aware of my identity, expressing myself, and giving a message to the public has been invaluable to me, it has made me braver, given me a true sense of who I am and I have realised what myself is like and how it changes over time.
Kuan-Chieh Chiang
Cruising in the park, finding yourself joyful. For this theme, my concept comes from the cruising culture of the gay community in Taiwan. For me, it represents self-identity, the recognition of my own identity, and the freedom and liberation of my sexuality. In a dark space, exposing one's body while hiding one's true self. In this space and time, we are free to express the use and liberation of our bodies. Throughout the school year, I experimented with different ways of hiding and revealing parts of my body, especially my sexual organs. It was important for me to work on my sexuality because it allowed me to learn about myself and the different aspects of self-consciousness. Revealing the different lines and areas in the body. Finding different aspects of my body and discovering its uniqueness. In this project, I discovered that these curved lines also represent the imagery of gender fluidity, which is not limited by a fixed frame or format, but can be expressed in different shapes and sculptural structures on the body. I have tried to create my own space in the body, a space inspired by the cruising culture of the gay community, where people search for their own happiness and gender identity in the darkness. I created a dream world of my own imagination and fantasy, I painted different colour blocks and spray paint renderings to represent my own imagination in the space. It is about having no limits, no boundaries, no fixed ideas, and a sense of being in the moment. I tried to make a three-dimensional sculpture of the body, which extends outwards irregularly, twisting and winding in different lines. In terms of materials, I use the stiffness of leather and the translucent softness of gauze to create a combination. On the body I used leather to create contours and lines, patching together different sizes of curves and colours. In the structure of the leather, I would like to conceal parts of my body to represent my privacy and security in this space, while at the same time, I reveal my organs and the so-called sense of gender in the body part of the gauze. In the process of self-identification and knowing oneself through the body, it is like a voyage and an adventure, like in the gay cruising culture, it is a concept of self-identity and a representation of self-knowledge. It has also allowed me to be braver and bolder in expressing my self-identity as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, both physically and mentally, as my most authentic self.
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