University at Buffalo (UB)
Su Yang’s current research aims to combine her interest in feminist perspectives on the philosophy of the body with her art practice. Su Yang relates cosmetic surgery to foot binding in the Chinese Qing Dynasty. She thinks both are procedures that aim to make women’s bodies conform to the patriarchal ideal of beauty. Su Yang uses oil and egg tempera to portray women pre-, during, or post-cosmetic/plastic surgeries. These paintings show the desensitized nature of reconstruction surgery and the subsequent trauma and suffering of the body. Su Yang used photographs of these procedures from medical books initially for the paintings and later used her own face and body for the figure.