Yuxiao Liu

In Molt, a man sits in a retro living room filled with paper insects and traces of nature. The work explores tenderness as a quiet form of resistance, challenging the expectation that men must be strong and detached. The domestic space becomes both intimate and unsettling a place where identity is performed, unlearned, and redefined. Paper figures, my childhood companions, act as fragile doubles that bring back what was once excluded. The image invites the viewer into a “safe house” where vulnerability becomes a kind of power.

In this image from Molt, a man in a suit lies exhausted on a kitchen counter, surrounded by objects of routine and decay. The setting evokes a quiet aftermath where control collapses into vulnerability. Insects rest on his clothes, blurring the boundaries between human and nature, life and stillness. The work continues to question masculinity and emotional regulation, exposing the tension between external appearance and internal fragility. It reflects a state of shedding where identity, like skin, loosens and renews.

This image from Molt captures a moment of stillness and transformation. A man, wearing makeup and a checked jacket, sits on a patterned carpet with a beetle resting on his mouth an unsettling yet intimate gesture. The scene blurs beauty and discomfort, inviting the viewer to reconsider vulnerability as strength. Through this quiet confrontation, the work explores how tenderness, often silenced or shamed, becomes an act of defiance. The insect, both delicate and resilient, mirrors the human desire to coexist with fragility and renewal.

This image from Molt focuses on the quiet aftermath of transformation. A hand stretches toward a fragile paper chair among shattered glass, wilted flowers, and scattered insects. The scene evokes tenderness amid collapse, revealing how care persists in the ruins of control. By framing vulnerability as an ongoing process rather than a fixed state, the work suggests that gentleness like repair is never complete. It invites reflection on the beauty that remains in what is broken, forgotten, or left behind.