2017
Toothpicks, acrylic sheet, acrylic paint
49x 60 in
To pick the teeth postprandial with a toothpick is a symbol of one’s wealth. This disposable item of personal oral hygiene is often overlooked and taken for granted. What seems insignificant, often plays an important role in our everyday lives. This work focuses on lives of the insignificance, the disposables, the others, that make our society.
The material used in this artwork is crucial to the translation of the concept of otherness. The formation of the toothpicks in rows is reference to Terracotta Army in Chinese traditions. Toothpicks are painted black and used as the red background. The red outline of the toothpick highlights the violence, torture, suffer to each; while painted black toothpick blends into the black background signify uselessness, abandoned and insignificance of them as a whole. The acrylic sheet gives a mirror effect that reflects its surrounding and forces the audience participate: see themselves while observing the artwork. The artwork plays on the shift of perspectives. Depending on the lighting conditions, it will highlight the different elements of the artwork. This project is part of the series inSuff·is·ti·catewhich I want to inform everyone to be more aware of the “otherness” in the world that are in struggling conditions. To help each other to get out of hyperrealities created by these systems.