Obscured by Illusions, 2018

The idea of “Asia” has long been imagined in mass media as a place of technological advancements with intellectual primitivism, nonaligned with the logic of Western consciousness. In these media depictions of Asian megacities, the idea of this land is somehow superficially condensed into neon littered dystopias. This collection exaggerates this disjunction, exploring the issues of techno-Orientalism as a proposition of false Asian-ness in imagined future societies.

Hand-woven jacquard mimics corrugated polycarbonate, vinyl laminated wool gaberdine mimics chrome sheets, and screen printed translucent latex mimics stretched jersey. The material mimicry provokes the idea of glossy, plastic places, hyperbolising our understanding of Asia in these imagined futures. The garments further reference erotic garments, alluding to how techno-Orientalist discourse, emerging from Western knowledge systems, rely on the submissive Other.