Xenophoria (2020)

• 66%
• 2020
• Jes Fan

"Xenophoria" chronicles Fan's pursuit of eumelanin pigment, the molecule responsible for skin color found in both human and non-human bodies. Referencing the aesthetics of both microscopic imagery and autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) videos, "Xenophoria" includes actions such as dissecting squids and bursting their ink sacs, harvesting fungi with scalpels, and locating bodily moles, irises and skin. The work also includes close-ups of bulbous tumors protruding from faces in the medical paintings by Qing Dynasty painter Lam Qua. In this work, Fan presents an absurdist investigation and fetishization of the molecule responsible for centuries of racial othering, suggesting how this molecule in fact exists within all of us, human or not.