Hidden in Plain Sight: Exploring the Unseen Struggles of Women’s Bodies

Exhibition: Beyond and Inside the Female Body by Zhou Wenjing

• Evocative Artwork: In an installation by Zhou Wenjing, a woman unexpectedly bursts into tears, seeing stretch marks from childbirth mirrored in the artwork—a piece created initially to convey skin diseases.

• Art and Personal Reinterpretation: Zhou’s work, like the "Red Series No. 3," which depicts women in states of pregnancy, powerfully resonates with personal experiences. The artwork embodies the true, raw state of female pregnancy, stripping away idealization.

• Women Series·IUD Project: Zhou’s "Women Series·IUD" highlights the often-overlooked experiences of women with intrauterine devices. Using over 300 copper IUDs, she emphasizes the hidden struggles and pain many women endure.

• Connecting Women Through Art: Zhou strives to break the isolation of individual female experiences, uniting women by using art to reinterpret the female body.

Spotlighting IUD Pain - Making Women’s Pain Visible

• Hidden Pain: Zhou’s project on IUDs reveals that over 10% of IUD users face complications, but few discuss it openly.

• Inspiration from Personal Experience: After accompanying her mother to remove an IUD, Zhou began exploring the physical and emotional toll on women who use these devices.

• Gentle yet Cruel Landscapes: In her copper IUD artworks, she places the devices on blue velvet, creating a scene that is both visually soft yet symbolically harsh, exposing the pain hidden beneath societal norms.

As a Daughter, as a Woman - Transforming through Art

• Personal and Generational Bonds: Zhou’s artistic journey began with witnessing her mother’s gynecological struggles. This experience deepened her awareness of women’s health and influenced her art.

• Mother-Daughter Connection: Through projects like "Women Series·Warmth," where Zhou uses clothing labels from her mother’s wardrobe, she narrates her mother’s life over ten years, reflecting her personal history and body changes.

• Artistic Expression and Understanding: Zhou’s mother began understanding her work, symbolizing a bridging of generational values. They connected on the challenges and beauty of womanhood, experiencing a new sense of closeness.

Red Series - Interpreting the Female Body

• Exploring Female Pain and Beauty: Zhou’s "Red" series delves into topics of menstruation, childbirth, disease, and injury. Using red ink and materials inspired by her mother’s experiences, the artworks discuss female bodies and illnesses.

• Audience Reinterpretation: Some women see their own experiences in Zhou's work, such as postpartum wrinkles, highlighting the emotional impact and the personal connections viewers draw.

• Pregnancy and Physical Changes: In "Red Series No. 3," Zhou presents pregnant figures immersed in red ink for a month, capturing the changes in plaster that mirror the harsh reality of pregnancy—from gentle pink tones to disease-like textures.

Exhibition Impact - Opening Conversations on Women’s Experiences

• Emotional Audience Reactions: Zhou notes that audiences respond viscerally, often seeing the work as beautiful yet unsettling or even disturbing.

• Prompting Reflection: Zhou’s goal is to make audiences question why they react as they do, encouraging a deeper awareness of women’s bodily experiences.

• Creating a Women’s Reading Room: In the exhibition, Zhou often includes a reading room with poetry, theory, and prose about women. This space encourages reflection on the breadth of female experiences and fosters dialogue around women’s bodies and lives.