Zhiyun Lei

This practice starts within visual ideology. The first stage of the practice is the deconstruction of visual ideology. I used Photoshop to erase all the figures in a reproduction of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco. The second stage of this work is to construct a new visual ideology. I used my body – nude - to replicate every posture of the figures in the original painting.

I believe the body is a powerful ideology, and it is the basic unit of ideology. According to Foucault, ‘the body is not something objective that stands outside of history and culture. Instead, the body has been influenced by work, medicine, diet, exercise, etc’. Therefore, the body is ever-present in a kind of religious depiction. I reconstructed this ancient ideology through the contemporary body to express that 'technology tears men loose from the earth and uproots them'.

I stripped out the ritual part of the religion and took these photos. I constructed a forest at home with jewellery, screens, sofas and other artefacts with natural elements. I believe those artefacts embody human beings' primitive desire for nature. Because it is difficult for people in contemporary society to return to nature for a long time. In most cases, we live in cities. Therefore, people project their desire for nature on to these handicrafts with natural elements.