The name Riding the Tiger of the West is composed using a proverb and a symbol from Chinese
mythology, the first “He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount” and the second “White tiger from
the west” which is used to call everything linked to the west.
The photograph offers a variety of meanings and values, first of all the audience sees a simple
selfie that is a portrait with a cosmetic face mask. When I put it on I stopped. I look absurd and
facetious. I find a resemblance with black face. I look like a clown, sad, funny and scary. I look
literally white. The cosmetic mask that I put on myself to take care of my skin became a symbol
of my cultural identity. It represents the absurdity and my own confusion.
In a rush for perfect skin I ended up white, The whiteness that is also an obsession of the asian
beauty culture. The whiteness that is linked to the high class and many years under the influence
of western iconography.
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