Ellie Kayu Ng – BOOOOOOOM! – CREATE * INSPIRE * COMMUNITY * ART * DESIGN * MUSIC * FILM * PHOTO * PROJECTS

Artist Ellie Kayu Ng tries on new personas in her self-portraits, exploring the dichotomy between otherness and belonging. She explains that, as an immigrant in New York, she usually attire to mix in, which has resulted in a private wardrobe of restricted vocabulary — “I hid a part of my truthful self, which I’m curious to know. I puzzled what particular person would I develop into if I didn’t need to care in regards to the unwritten guidelines of dressing and habits.” In her portray apply, Ng finds a slice of freedom. Depicting herself carrying rented outfits, she is ready to pursue a way of individuality, creating areas the place the principles and norms of day by day life don’t apply.

“Some folks have issue understanding my need to slot in and stand out directly,” she elaborates. “Therefore, I open up to mannequins. They, too, depend on outfits they don’t personal to accumulate and talk identification. After returning their garments, additionally they return to a bunch of bland and shared identities. They’re like me in that sense: I conform to social norms after returning the garments I used for experimenting with individuality on canvas and depart my artwork within the studio. I really feel consoled once I’ve discovered our similarities, so I need to discover our connection extra deeply by making a sequence of work that make the themes look staged and posed. In these work, I may be each the window dresser and model.”

See extra from Ellie Kayu Ng under!