Illa Haziqin

Illa Haziqin (born1995) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work exhibits the nature of transforming or the process of becoming another. She delves into personal relations around her, reflecting such matters into her own being.Through her works, she reassembles herself through a multitude of bodies, depicting transformed bodies of old and new through a series of photographs and live performances. Illa has performed in 2 of the Wuwei Performance series, with both live performances that pushes the limitations of the human body, questioning the normalized ‘uses’ of the human body and its social stigma. She has exhibited locally in Objectifs gallery, as a response to Amanda Heng’s work ‘Walk with me’, as well as Coda Culture.

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What do you want me to be?

Second Series +

2 Mar 2019

Stamford Arts Centre

When a request is made to a body to become something, it takes a long time. It is also an intense process where bodies take on a requested form or shape. This work deploys deliberate strategies to alter muscles to movements through calculated actions to become an ideal or a norm, as stipulated by requests. As my body undergoes transformation as it deconstructs and reconstructs. It simulates how our moving from one space to another, from the public to private, is a form of adaptation. This work shows how societal and cultural rules impact and dictate our bodies, but we do not usually process these changes until after transformation is done. The transformation process is usually not given attention. In this work, I will attempt to take on different shapes and forms under the gaze of audiences. The act of transformation could also be seen as a form ‘cultural makeover’.

My transformations depict the labours of becoming; the intensity in morphing into something or someone, that is the ideal form or shape. The fact that my transformation is deliberate from the muscles to the movements, such calculated intentions dictates the arduousness of becoming the ideal or the norm. The body is subjected to undergo various transformations, constantly reconstructing and deconstructing. As we move into different spaces throughout our lives, from the public to private, adapting ourselves as we move. These transitions and the ideals expected from these different spaces impacts our body, making it change, conforming to its societal or cultural rules. We often process the before or after of these transformations, ignorant of the transition itself. With the gaze of the audience, I morph myself into these requested forms, constantly changing as I become more aware of my body and the audience theirs. The act of being watched creates a space for the body to ‘act’, subtly hinting on the context of ‘culture makeover’; to be viewed in the process of transformation.

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I Period Myself

Fourth Series + 19 July 2019 51 Waterloo Street

I period myself reiterates the topic of the period as taboo: a biological occurrence in women that remains a constant topic of debate, having depicted as 'dirty' and its public presence as unethical and unhygienic. This performance reimagines period as a body that has sinned, as the artist drowns herself in blood and attempts to wash them away- a repetitive cycle that depicts the desire for a cleansed body. The once clear water becomes dirty, however, the body is constantly stained. Such imagery creates the irrefutable fact that such cycles are a part of the body and the desire for it to be accepted by the public - to be considered as an occurrence that happens in both public and private spaces. To be looked at as a part of human biology rather than a subject of taboo.

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I Period Myself

Steeped Strong +

6 Dec 2019

Far East Plaza

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Hungry

Seventh Series +

25 April 2020

Online

'Hungry' reimagines the body in the illusion of nakedness. Instead of embracing the body’s nakedness, it casts its focus on the sensuality of feeling naked, despite being clothed. The progression of the garments are the main focus in this performance, as we see it takes on the body, revealing the slightest curves when it's fully soaked.

The term hunger is used to describe the viewers perception of shower scenes of women, in films and other forms of media, which is often sexualized despite it being a hygiene routine. The stillness in the performance represents the limitations of the body to overcome such perception, as women are constantly being objectified through the lens of men in mass media.