Scotty So
Born 1995, Hong Kong; moved to Melbourne, 2018
Rabbit God, 2022.
digital photograph
150cm x 96cm
Bendigo Art Gallery Collection, 2022.
Image courtesy of the artist and MARS Gallery
Description:
In this self-portrait, So is standing against a smooth teal background, side on but gently turned to look to the viewer. He is dressed in a traditional kimono: the upper garment is a light, cool-toned mint green with wide, draping sleeves. Over this is a richly decorated front panel featuring intricate embroidered patterns in blue, gold, red, and white. Over this outfit, So is wearing a black leather harness with straps and metal buckles across his upper body. He also wears a mask with two tall, black, upright shapes resembling elongated rabbit ears, made from pieces of black leather held together with silver studs. Behind the mask over his head is a large arrangement of pink flowers. So wears subtle makeup, including a short line of black pencil from his septum to his upper lip – suggesting the philtrum below a rabbit’s nose. His beard and moustache stubble are just visible.
Curator’s insights:
Scotty So was born in 1995 in Hong Kong, where he also spent his youth. Now Melbourne-based, So works across various media including painting, photography, sculpture, site-responsive installation, video and drag performance. Across his creative practice he embodies an array of characters maximising the medium of performance to explore personal and cultural identity as well as test notions of truth and authenticity. Dressed in period costume referencing historical dynasties, in Rabbit God So blends himself into history recalling an ancient Chinese deity from a queer folk tale. This work is part of a series of photographic portraits titled Shungay, inspired by ‘Asian erotic paintings, European Chinoiserie art, Instagram makeup trends and contemporary gay culture’. In this cultural mash-up So conflates the past and the present drawing attention to the aesthetic appropriation of Asian cultures and the ways culture and histories are expressed, represented, documented, absorbed and adapted through time.