lesbian and gay politics and simultaneously exposes the lack of a sexual analysis. You extract bodily materials-such as estrogen, melanin, testosterone, fat-and redeposit them into your artworks. to create a queer Chicana/o optic to analyze the art of Julio Salgado. I’m fascinated by the idea of holding a significant bodily identifier outside of your skin, and examining it like an object. In this case, the ceramic branch holds a bubble that contains melanin. I’m interested in how these fitted bases cue to the audience that this object is meant for holding, a holding that demonstrates an act of care.
The other work, I think about Lam Qua everyday III (2019), references the branch holders for scholar rocks and Chinese antique precious stones. These ambiguous surfaces are connected by vein-like lines, and allude to scientific diagrams that describe the body. One piece, from my “Diagrams” series (2018), is composed of casts of my body-in this case, my left chest and my shoulder blade-abstracted by the act of laborious sanding. I contributed two pieces to this current group show, “In My Room,” organized by Alvin Li at Antenna Space, Shanghai.
