How far would you go to confront your deepest desires? Taiwanese artist Skyler Chen doesn’t shy away from these intimate and often taboo questions in his exhibition How far I would have to go to become myself at MASSIMODECARLO, London. Through his uncompromising exploration of sexual identity and the tensions it creates within cultural and familial expectations, Chen’s work challenges viewers to confront the complexities of their sexuality and the conflicts that arise from it.
As we move through the exhibition, each work reveals a chapter of a personal journey marked by raw honesty and a fearless confrontation with desires that often remain hidden. Rendered in earthy tones and warm hues, Chen’s art is filled with solitary figures and symbolic objects that capture the loneliness and struggle inherent in the search for self-understanding. His work speaks to the core of what it means to wrestle with identity in a world that often imposes rigid expectations of who we should be and how we should love.
In his central work, Finding Myself, Chen boldly mixes elements of Asian folklore with provocative depictions of sexual expression, creating a striking contrast between the traditional and the transgressive. The characters in his paintings unabashedly embrace their desires, challenging the viewer to redefine their boundaries. Incorporating both traditional Taiwanese iconography and bold, American-inspired imagery, Chen critiques the superficial freedom often associated with Western culture. His compositions are rich in detail, juxtaposing sex toys with traditional dumplings and erotic magazines with symbols of familial and cultural norms, making a powerful statement about the often unspoken conflicts between heritage and self-expression.
Works like Mothers and Sons delve deeply into the silent, simmering tensions of sexual development within the family unit. Here, Chen uses the body as a central theme, exploring how unspoken desires can suppress self-acceptance and perpetuate modern loneliness. The artist’s depiction of naked figures against the backdrop of the mother’s closed eyes symbolises the deep-seated silence that surrounds sexual development in many cultures, particularly within the family. Through works like Family Dynamic, Chen poignantly illustrates how the journey of becoming oneself is inextricably linked to the acceptance—or rejection—we experience in our closest relationships.
The exhibition is accompanied by a publication with a narrative by Andrew Bliss, including the provocative quote: “The harder I fuck you, the less gay I feel.” This raw and frank statement embodies the internal turmoil and social pressures that shape Chen’s work. It reflects the struggle to reconcile personal desires with external expectations, a theme that resonates deeply in Eastern cultures, where familial duty often clashes with the search for individual identity.
While Chen’s exploration of sexual identity is deeply rooted in his Taiwanese heritage, his work also serves as a critique of Western ideals that promise liberation but often bring a false sense of fulfilment. The illusion of the American Dream, with its glossy façade of freedom and success, is exposed in Chen’s art as a superficial construct that exacerbates the loss of personal identity. Rather than providing answers, it often forces people to confront the harsh reality that true self-knowledge may require a return to one’s cultural roots, where the complexities of identity can be fully embraced and understood. In How far I would have to go to become myself Skyler Chen invites us to question not only our desires, but also the societal illusions that shape our understanding of who we are and who we aspire to be.
Text by Kate Kadeniuk @katekadeniuk
