Oil and embroidery on canvas, 65x53cm, 2021.
An experimental painting where I mixed oil paint and embroidery. The embroidered section is the bright red and yellow area around the figure's eyes. The text reads "お買得品" which means "bargain item" or "on sale".
The inspiration for this painting comes from my perception of two Japanese words that caught my attention. The words are "べっぴん" and "すっぴん", which mean "beautiful girl" and "girl without makeup" respectively. Both of these words have the ending "品" (sometimes also written with 嬪), which means product or item for sale. Though I know the words now are used in a more modern context, whenever I hear them it makes me think about the history of women being seen as objects, and the obsession with women's features/appearance. I decided to make this painting just a reflection of my thoughts on this phenomenon.