Fasciation: A Ruthless Fetish

SPRMRKT’s final art exhibition for 2017 titled Fasciation: A Ruthless Fetish runs from 29 Nov 2017 to 9 Jan 2018, and features new work by PAYNK (artist name of Sharon Yang) that examines and questions ideas of beauty. The exhibition will also feature a unique combination of the visual and performing arts, and a series of thematic workshops.

PAYNK examines beauty and distortion through the lens of fasciation, a rare condition of mutation or abnormal growth in plants that leads to distorted flowers, fruits and stems. Certain varieties of plants are bred especially for their reliably fasciated blossoms.

“We, with our taste for the bizarre, the rare and the unpredictable, grow and prize various types of plants for their development of fasciation. We can never be quite satisfied with normal, can we?” PAYNK ponders in her artist statement. “The various fasciated plants embody a ruthless fetish: our desire to perpetuate and collect what is fundamentally a mutation for the sake of beauty.” This series of works puts, side by side, elaborate illustrations of fasciated plant life and the female form: bent and twisted into various contortions, “exuding undeniable grace, yet inducing an empathised feeling of bone-breaking, tendon-snapping pain” according to PAYNK.

By having the works mirror each other, PAYNK asks the audience to compare the strangely beautiful fasciated plants with the contorted human body – and what makes them beautiful or appealing.

Opening Reception: 6 December Wednesday, 6.30pm – 9.30pm
A highlight of the reception will be an interactive performance by Jaclyn Fong who will bring the artwork to life for a brief moment by mimicking the poses found therein. Jaclyn is a certified Hatha Yoga instructor currently working with famed international dance school Ecole de Pole.