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Su Su

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Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Su Su, Deer Life, 2022
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Su Su, Deer Life, 2022
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Su Su, Deer Life, 2022
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Su Su, Deer Life, 2022
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Su Su, Deer Life, 2022
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Su Su, Deer Life, 2022

Su Su

Deer Life, 2022
Oil on canvas
48 x 60 in
121.9 x 152.4 cm
8644

Further images

  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) Su Su, You've Got a Little Something, 2021
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) Su Su, You've Got a Little Something, 2021
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 3 ) Su Su, You've Got a Little Something, 2021
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 4 ) Su Su, You've Got a Little Something, 2021
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 5 ) Su Su, You've Got a Little Something, 2021
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 6 ) Su Su, You've Got a Little Something, 2021
  • Deer Life
This masterful oil painting by Chinese-born, Pittsburgh based artist Su Su portrays the naked figure of the artist surrounded by a swirling, melting universe of Eastern and Western iconographies. References...
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This masterful oil painting by Chinese-born, Pittsburgh based artist Su Su portrays the naked figure of the artist surrounded by a swirling, melting universe of Eastern and Western iconographies. References to the Walt Disney film Bambi are intermingling with imagery from the traditional 100 Deer motif found on Chinese flower vases. Su Su’s right hand in the painting is holding a brush; her left hand is mimicking the shape of a deer. Su Su assembles her paintings from an array of iconographies as an expression of her own intercultural experience immigrating to the United States from China. This painting demonstrates how Eastern and Western cultures misunderstand and misrepresent each other’s references. Western readings of the Bambi story focus on the tragic loss of Bambi’s mother, while Su Su sees something different in the story: a narrative of a young deer trying to find its way through life through other animals who are its teachers and mentors. Meanwhile, the 100 Deer vases, such as those found in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, are typically described by Western curators as referencing the political desires of male emperors to attain power and long life. The story is one of men overcoming and dominating the natural world. This is, however, a misreading of the iconography, which in reality references the deer who live in the garden of a female deity, the goddess Xi Wangmu, or Queen Mother of the West. Su Su’s presentation of this amalgam of iconographies offers a new and unique understanding of intercultural exchange—a jittery, beautiful hybrid of mass media, pop culture, history, and memory with the capacity to shape our understanding of our interconnected world.
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