Title: Woman Liberation

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Size: 30"W X 36 "H

Year: 2008

My painting is to remind us the Liberation period of China in contemporary Chinese history.  Particularly, women who were totally liberated from the traditional Chinese culture under the Maoism ideas.  Women were treated as equals as men; in fact, women were treated as men.  Women had to do men’s jobs too, such as heavy labour work in industrial, agricultural and military professions.  Women had to dress like men – in men’s clothes.  Women were not allowed to wear anything revealing their femininity.  The point does not suggest that a woman is defined by how she dresses, I just wish to use the dress code as a symbol of feminism.  Women had no freedom to choose what they wore as a symbol to show their femininity.  Women had no right to choose what role they played in society. One may wonder, does that really mean liberation for women? Do women have to give up their feminine quality in order to be treated equally as men?  Were women really liberated during Maoist period?  After Deng’s opening-up Economic Policy, women have begun to be allowed to dress like women and not in men’s clothes.   Have women enjoyed liberation after Deng’s Open-up Economic Policy?  Today, the new generation of women has complete freedom how they dress to show their sexuality.  Does it mean that women are totally liberated in China today? 

In my painting, spectators are confronted with a young woman with luxuriate breasts who is completely nude sitting in front of the foreground.  The only garment she has is her Mao hat.  In that sense, she is not totally naked.  Her Mao jacket is hanged at the background to remind us of her background.  My painting is completely opened to viewers’ own interpretation.  I only seek to pose a question, not to answer it.