Mycelia — Youyi Echo Yan

Mycelia
Commons Gallery at New York University, New York, NY
May 3- 12, 2023

Axial Domestication
2023
Stained clear pine, resin, PVA glue, synthetic fur, cotton, steel, silicone
Installation 73” x 24” x 78”
(wooden part 6”x8”x34”, fur part 24”x26”x24”, track 14” x 73” x 5”)

Axial Domestication embodies the human’s self- domestication theory, while drawing inspiration from Rousseau's Second Discourse, which discussed that the development of abstract thought and the master-slave dynamic is the origin of the oppression of our species.
The wall hanging part of the sculpture is the dominant mind, characterized by an upright, vertical form and a texture reminiscent of bone and muscle. This evokes the capacity for abstract thinking and intellectual dominance. The vertical floor creature is the primal aspects of human existence, with a furry, round body signifying instinctual and submissive facets. Connecting them is a silicone-covered metal chain, an umbilical cord.

Sitz!
2023
Stained clear pine, resin, PVA glue, synthetic fur, cotton, metal hook, stain-less steel hanging wire
Wooden part 18”x13”x20” (45 x 33 x 50 cm), fur part 6”x6”x40”(15 x 15 x 101cm)

Sitz! is a manifestations of bodily transformations in humans and dogs through evolution and domestication. The wooden component takes the form of a deformed human female femur bone coated in viscous, gelatinous dyed resin that evokes bodily fluids and sexual activity.
As humans evolved, the shape of the female femur bone and hip bones has changed correspondingly with the growth and complexity of the brain. This evolution has resulted in childbirth becoming more painful and violent. The strokes of the tail across the bones suggest the myth of the werewolf, howls of unwanted bodily metamorphosis and aggression.

Fertilizing The Ginseng Tree
2022
Plaster, epoxy resin
78 x 57 x 15 inches

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