What I've Learnt - Scotty So

WHAT I'VE LEARNT

Artist Scotty So was recently been mistaken for the prominent politician and Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam on an Italian news site his life changed.

Scotty So cuts a jaw-droppingly beautiful figure as his alter-ego Scarlett So Hung Son.

“Scarlett is the symbol of an Oriental silhouette,” he says. “She’s the drag persona that allows me to become the beauty that I always wanted to see. And when I look at myself in the mirror, I see the woman who I wanted to become.”

He then uploaded these images to Wikipedia. “At the time I didn’t realise that when you have pictures on Wikipedia they become part of this huge database of images that are free for anyone to use. Lots of the newspaper or news sites not wanting to buy copyrighted material use this archive to find content,” describes So with a wry smile.

Enamoured with the idea that an artist might somehow rewrite history by editing an archive, So began uploading pictures to pages all over the website. “I put a picture of me dressing up as a burlesque dancer in the '40s and put it up on Asian Fetish … then there was one of me dressing up as a Manchurian lady, a noble lady, with a huge headpiece.”

Plucked from art school after just graduating Scotty So is mesmerising .. and super talented with his toungue firmly planted in his cheek.

For the NGV Triennial So will present a series of eight porcelain face masks alongside six photographic prints. The masks are accurate representations of the real PPE the world has become intimately acquainted with, such as the KN95, N95 and respirator masks (even if you don’t recognise those names, you’ll definitely recognise the masks).

The first mask So made for the series was the Qihua glazed respirator mask, which also doubles as an incense burner. “I wanted to play with the idea that this is something that is supposed to protect me but has become this beautiful, fragile ceramic piece,” he says.

“I wanted to play with the idea that this is something that is supposed to protect me but has become this beautiful, fragile ceramic piece.”

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