Amara zhai

Surface

This installation takes the form of a large-scale, wall-mounted textile structure that resembles an abstracted surface of skin. The inspiration for this work comes from one of my illnesses – psoriasis. Composed of layered and compressed fibrous materials, the work is rendered in desaturated tones of pale pink, grey, and flesh-like hues. Its surface is dense, loose, and irregular, oscillating between visual perception and imagined tactility—at once soft and unsettling.Installed within a minimal gallery environment, the work operates at the threshold between object and space. Its scale (150 × 205 cm) confronts the viewer with a presence that feels both intimate and invasive. Cool white lighting accentuates the surface’s undulations and shadows, evoking the layered qualities of bodily tissue.A subtle sound component accompanies the installation: a low, continuous audio composed of skin-scratching and fragmented breathing. The sound does not point to a visible source, but instead permeates the space as an ambient bodily presence. The interplay between image and sound draws the viewer into a more embodied experience, evoking sensations of discomfort, vulnerability, and heightened self-awareness.

“This work emerges from my ongoing exploration of the body as a site of memory, control, and rupture. By transforming soft, fibrous materials into a skin-like surface, I attempt to externalize what is typically concealed, translating internal bodily experiences into a visible and spatial condition.The surface deliberately resists smoothness. Instead, it accumulates folds, ruptures, and irregular formations. This material language is informed by my interest in pathological states of the body—particularly conditions that alter the surface of skin, rendering it visible, exposed, and often stigmatized. The work does not represent a specific illness; rather, it evokes a sensory proximity to bodily discomfort.Sound introduces another layer of the body within the work. The scratching of skin and unstable breathing are both intimate and difficult to ignore. They suggest a repetitive, self-directed bodily action while simultaneously revealing the body’s response to pressure and control. Rather than functioning as narrative, the sound operates as a residual echo of the body—persistent, cyclical, and unresolved.The process of layering, compressing, and assembling the material reflects a simultaneous act of damage and repair. The surface can be understood as both wounded and reconstructed—fragile, yet insistently present. Within this tension, violence and care, exposure and protection remain entangled.By displacing this “skin” from the body and mounting it onto the wall, the work exists in a state of separation while still retaining traces of corporeality. As viewers engage with the work, they are not only looking, but also being positioned within a field of sensory awareness shaped by sound. This prompts a reconsideration of the act of viewing itself—its intimacy, its distance, and its inherent intrusion.Rather than offering a fixed meaning, the work invites an embodied experience—one that exists between discomfort, intimacy, and empathy.”