Li Cai Yi - Delicate
licaiyi.weebly.com
Li Cai Yi was born in 1999 in Berkeley, California. She is currently a student at the University of California, Berkeley, and will receive her B.A. in Art Practice in May 2021. Li has been included in exhibitions in the Capital Building in Washington D.C. and in Berkeley. She mainly focuses on traditional mediums such as oil painting and watercolors, and is interested in themes regarding gender expression and bodily autonomy.
Crowdsourced list of "feminine" traits, and model's choices for comfort level
Artist Statement:
I've always been interested in the male gaze and how it interacts with the female figure. When I decided to flip the roles and portray a man as femininely and delicately as male artists have depicted their female subjects throughout history, my first model felt extremely uncomfortable even holding flowers in his picture. He said it made him feel too "weak." Since then, I've been curious as to how classically feminine men will allow me to portray them as, when their faces will be associated with the final piece.
For this project, I crowdsourced a list of traits people associated with femininity, then gave it to a model for him to mark which traits he would be comfortable with being portrayed with.
Closeup of model's eye
