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YIN YANG PEACOCK (陰陽凰眼)

A gender-fluid deity of perception and fertility that encourages acceptance of people of colour and the LGBTQ+ community.

VIDEO LINK IN PHOTOS!

Chamberlain (2023)

Costume Media: feather, clay, DIY clothes, plastic balls, paper mache, cardboard, belt, strings, acrylic paint, lightweight fabric

Yin Yang Peacock (Chinese: 陰陽凰眼) is a gender-fluid deity I created for the project in Chamberlain Institute. My alter ego encourages acceptance of people of colour and the LGBTQ+ community. Many Asian critics argued that gender non-conformity are western behaviours, despite numerous depictions of gender fluidity and homosexuality cross Asian literature. I drew visual elements from Asian mythology, philosophy, and animals into my costume and performance to signify my Chinese heritage and non-binary identity.​​

Yin Yang Peacock is inspired by queer Asian mythological figures such as the Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Guan Yin (Chinese: 千手千眼觀音), a gender fluid Chinese Bodhisattva of compassion. In the Karandavyuha Sutra, Guan Yin use their eyes to see the world's troubles and use their arms to help those in need. Yin Yang Peacock's eyes on the body symbolise awareness. They encourage people to put their views in different perspectives, especially at an age where queer people of colour still struggle to be accepted in society. 

The costume is inspired by the flamboyant, non-conforming display of drag and the peacock. Peacocks display their feathers to attract peahen's attention, opposite to the heterosexual male gaze portrayed in media. Similar to the multiple eyes of Hindu deities, the spots on the peacock's feathers were viewed as all-seeing eyes, which challenges the binary perception of the male and female gender.

The black and white swirls of the costume represents the colours of Yin and Yang, the complementary principles of Chinese philosophy. Yin and yang are seen as Qi, vital life force that flows through the universe.Yin is associated with darkness, negativity, and femininity. Meanwhile, Yang is associated light, positivity, and masculinity. I reinterpreted the interplay of opposites as the exchange between femininity and masculinity in my gender identity.

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