but there is a packing peanut

Sixuan Zhu

As a millennial growing up in the rapidly developing China, seeing girls in holographic suits, pinkish lights from massage parlors, ecstasy candies, and sex toy vending machines unconsciously assimilated into my thinking and behavior as a woman and manifest through my making process. Through the form of packing peanuts, I make works that are quirky narratives about the hidden female preserves. Fascinated by the crackly fragility of the pink packing peanuts, I am drawn into the metaphorical narratives behind their protective nature: interlocking under pressure, yet unique when standing alone. Similarly, glass is resilient when it is hot, delicate when it is cold. The pink represents the queering of the materiality, with a sexual innuendo hinting at the gender androgyny, echoing back to the strong coalition of the feeble packing peanuts. Combining a duality of soft and rigid materials, I accentuate the ridiculousness of the object through the lens of playfulness and humor to create a moment of surprise that resonates.