Dream in Blood
“This multimedia-based piece incorporates digital drawing, video projection, and audio. Under the abstract blood-like projection, the drawing depicts a cyborg who is lying in her own blood with Opium Poppy flowers. The dialogue refers to the Voight-Kampff test in Blade Runner. The questions shift from daily routines to something more absurdly futuristic. In this piece, I’ve been thinking of the impact of industrialization on female bodies. I also wanted to address the idea of the rat race, and the intense pressure and unreasonable requirements that current human society has put on underage children. The dehumanization and alienation taking place in modern social norms forebode the very likely future in which humans will become cyborgs and their physical development could be timed and controlled in order to meet the demand of the entire human community.”
Melody (Yiru) Chen (b. 2001) is a feminist artist from Shanghai, China and a current senior Roski BFA art major with a minor in Media Art + Practice from the School of Cinematic Arts. Through her practice of painting, digital illustration, and photography, she deals with social issues around gender and period shaming, as well as women’s positioning in this patriarchal world. Chen uses objects as symbols to address women’s suffering from their anatomy, pointing out the impact of industrialization on female bodies and insufficient emphasis on sex education in general.
Chen graduates from USC in May 2023 and will continue her practice in the School of Visual Arts MFA Illustration program starting this fall.