This project is the first part of “Self-Taught” . It is a series of playful crochet sculptures which suggest the lacking of sex education status in China.
As one of the victims under the non-sex education environment, I have had no consciousness of gender when I was young because I lived with my male cousin in early childhood, we both worn open-seat pants and took showers together regularly.
Things were not getting better when I was older.
There was no class about gender or sex neither at school or family(even the situation is not changing today). I learned everything by myself in an abnormal way, so I became a feminist who is not only confused about my sexual orientation but also having a fear of sex.
By making the entire project by myself, I tried to release my fear and prejudice by the process of crocheting with vivid colours of yarns, also making them in various of sizes and shapes to show my ignorant childish imaginary.
The final result is an overall bodysuit with several soft sculptures that can be freely attached to body suit or combined by themselves. I recorded a video with my own performance of how I played with them as if I was an innocent child, at the same time, it has pedagogical meaning of the importance of sex education.
Yiru Chen 