My project "One Land To Another" interrogates issues of homophobia, racism, and misogyny. I was born and raised in a conservative family in Beijing. The prevailing cultural norms necessitated that my sexuality remain hidden. It was not until my arrival to the the United States in the spring of 2014 that I could finally have courage to reveal this secret. However, due to the history of anti-Chinese sentiments, problematic stereotypes of Asians and the dominance of white, macho gay, I became an “undesirable alien” in this “land of freedom”. The self-portraits of my death not only expresses the inequality of gay men in this world, but also reveals my self-denying and self-hating under the homophobic society. My performative portraits with other gay men expose different power dynamics, which examine the stereotypical representation of Asian male, the racism and discrimination in the white-dominated gay world, the worship of masculine whiteness and the pervasive misogyny.
