“Chun” is a series that I am working on in which I depict myself as an Asian woman, although I am a straight male, in order to explore gender fluidity and to express my love and appreciation for female beauty. —Chunbum Park
Table of Contents
Chun IV
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Year: 2020
Size: 60 x 40 inches (diptych of two 40 x 30 inch canvases)
Description: I painted myself as an Asian person with long black hair entering an intermediate space between green and red.
Chun V
Year: 2020
Size: 48 x 36 inches (diptych of two 36 x 24 inch canvases)
Description: I painted myself as an Asian woman with dyed red hair using heavy impasto technique.
Chun VI
Year: 2020
Size: 48 x 30 inches (diptych of two 30 x 24 inch canvases)
Description: I painted myself as an Asian woman wearing a velvet black dress and wearing a pearl jewelry.
Chun VII
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Year: 2020
Size: 60 x 30 inches (diptych of two 30 x 30 inch canvases)
Description: I painted myself transformed as a nude Asian woman with long black hair.
Chun VIII
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Year: 2020
Size: 72 x 36 inches (diptych of two 36 x 36 inch canvases)
Description: I painted myself transformed as a nude Asian woman with braided black hair.
Chun IX
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Year: 2020
Size: 60 x 40 inches (diptych of two 40 x 30 inch canvases)
Description: I painted myself transformed as a nude Asian woman with androgynous features – muscular and delicate at the same time.
Artist Statement
Although I was born a male, I paint myself as a woman in order to explore my gender and identity. I liken my painting process to plastic surgery and putting on makeup. I am decorating my figure in the self portrait with beautiful colors and forms. I believe that, since gender is a fluid and non-binary trait, both men and women should be able to express “masculine” and “feminine” traits. Perhaps the labels “masculine” and “feminine” should be re-labeled as “strong” and “beautiful,” so that they do not imply an automatic association for someone’s sex. I paint myself as a woman in order to reverse the power relations between men and women, who are often portrayed in the media and culture as strong and weak, respectively.
My paintings in which I depict myself as a woman is based on fantasy, as if they were online avatars that represent my identity, as well as self-examination, as if I were to look at myself in the mirror and see two sides of myself. Androgyny is a key trait that enables the convergence of femininity and masculinity. The process of painting is similar to putting on makeup and plastic surgery, changing up and beautifying some parts of me that appear masculine.
I engage in self-objectification in my paintings in order to get to know what women undergo everyday. Self-objectification of myself is not so severe because I am the one projecting the objectifying gaze and bodily examination on myself.
I am occupying a middle ground between the feminine and the masculine. I think this middle ground is important for men to engage with in order to empathize with the women’s call for equality and reverse the traditional power relations established by patriarchy.
The desire for the beautiful other has translated to a certain degree to a desire to become the other within my fantasy. I find women immensely beautiful and strong, so I become her in my painting.
