The Sheltering Place by Yatender

Artist Statement

“I believe people, regardless of differences all engage in one struggle against reality, and therefore have to deal with one of its inevitable consequence, the urge to escape reality’s overbearing dictate. Following this very urge, I returned to my own imagination: a shelter. Having retreated within, I sought to delay the confrontation with the real world and its burden as much as possible. Yet this ambiguous state is a lie we all hung up for so long, stranded between the imagined and the real, remained yet a faceless nobody.. this anonymity is evident in the series. But one can only retreat for so long..because time passes and solace runs dry.”

Curatorial comment

Yatender was discovered by Vietnam-based artist Richard Streitmatter-Tran who introduced her to 1PROJECTS. Ya’s work reminds us of photography of Ren Hang, the provocative Chinese photographer who recently passed away at the age of 29. While Ren Hang’s photography resembles works by Goldin, Mapplethorpe, and Clarke. Ren Hang’s works have been called tempestuous as they communicated a unique and raw, stark aesthetic that appeared to border on taboos in a break with the conventional. With the help of unashamed models and aesthetic accessories, Ren Hang led viewers into sophisticated surrealism. Ya’s work as well, her models posed in awkward, but erotic positions, usually with no clothes on, tests the viewers comfort zones and tests our limits to experience. The most unique characteristic of her works is the abstract way in which she depitcs the human body of her friends or herself. Provocative at first the images stoke uncertainty in the viewer of what the image aims to convey. People in her photos are contorted and in uncomfortable positions. Strangeness intrigues her. Faces are often obscured although in mundane and ordinary settings. Nudity and loneliness make her models appear vulnerable. The Vietnamese female artist accepts her body as it is which reminds her of everything she has experienced. She focuses on each scar and bruise as not physical experience but as memory. Ya is interested in the sensitivity and vulnerability of human beings and their how easily they get hurt. It is life’s fragility that the artist tries to capture, something she strongly believes is nothing to be afraid of. She wants to capture feelings, and in the process, learn how to accept them as a part of our body. The artist also finds inspiration in her surroundings from the water readers on their lunch break that rekindle her spirit for pursuing her passion for photography. Ya always strives to surpass the limitations of shooting on film but at the same time enjoys being tied down by them. Ya creates some of the most striking and distinctive images we’ve seen. Her highly-stylised and skewed, work is at the forefront of new and more artistic trend not only but notably also in Vietnamese photography. The figures in her work are oddly contorted; weirdly sculpted in strange ways. The faces are often obscured or hidden. Interestingly, Yatender puts her subjects in everyday surrounds, only magnifying the peculiarity of the positioning. It makes for intriguing viewing and you can’t help but wonder what the story behind each person/image is.