Blushing
Haoyue Wu
Diploma 2023/24
Instagram: @haoyue_wu_0409
Mail: nywhy6634@163.com
| Key visual poster 1 |
| Facial redness due to allergies causes embarrassment and self-consciousness in social situations. This personal physiological phenomenon gradually evolved into an artistic experiment exploring how individual physical states are interpreted within a socio-cultural framework. In Chinese cultural environment, most “abnormal” blushes represent poverty, because in some underdeveloped areas, exposure to wind and sun can cause the face to turn red. I realized that this physical response that was perceived as a deficit actually revealed deeper sociocultural biases and managerial anxieties. After observation I discovered that many people have the problem of "blushing". The causes of their facial redness are also different. Although it seems to be nothing for other people, It is not worth being afraid of and nervous, but for me, it is a feedback from the body to the outside world and an expression of emotions. In order to prove that there are people who have experienced similar emotions to me, I started to shoot and communicate with people who were also “blushing”. Aron Temkin Beck's cognitive behavioral therapy helps understand how emotions are formed by our interpretations of external events. And exposure therapy can effectively help individuals face and overcome their fears. The journey of taking portraits is also a process of exposing my own flaws. This can effectively cure the long-term emotional distress that blushing causes to a person. After my allergy symptoms subsided, I often still felt agitated by the environment I was in when I was allergic. This further led to the fact that I was afraid to face the smell of blooming flowers and seafood. Although these were not the direct cause of my allergies, because these elements appeared during my allergic period, I would subconsciously reject them. I couldn't face the reasons for my emotions, so during this period, I kept facing these objects over and over again. Just like when I capture blushing portraits one by one, the whole process is also a kind of healing for myself. I can slowly look directly at these blushing moments and visualize them, as if I am facing myself in different time and space moments. Just like Shakespeare said in 《Hamlet》“To thine own self be true.” Face it honestly, everyone has their own limitations and flaws. |
| Inside print, visualizing collected skin colours. |
| Photo card with the same colour blush available on the back. |
| Inside page of the print, visually explaining some of the causes of my own blushing. |
| Inside page of the print, visually explaining some of the causes of my own blushing. |