“fig 23.2 zombie” is built of Yeni Mao’s signature materials of blackened steel and leather, using the opportunities presented in the process of making to develop content. The pattern of leather straps suggest a complete surface, the negative space between the straps simultaneously concealing and exposing the interior. The sculpture is additionally adorned with braided weavings and piercings.

From Buddhism to the Aztecs, the ritual practice of stripping the body of the skin has been used to examine the interstices of identity, skin, self and body. Mao made this work during the intense beginnings of the pandemic. “fig 23.2 zombie” is a part of a series of wall works made during this period based in the abstraction of the figure.

Mao reflects on his own universal body, viscerally abstracting skin and organs in an investigation of the fragmentation physical presence. Mao considers abstraction a route to the liberation of any signifiers the physical body gives- working within the theory of diasporic language, an openness allowing the invention of new aesthetic material languages possible with transnational identities.