What is a PORN FLOWER?

What Is a Porn Flower?
Who is Yun Bai?

7/22/10, LOS ANGELES -
Do you know what a Porn Flower is? A Porn Flower symbolizes that “All women are flowers”, exemplifying that something beautiful can come out of a situation that most would deem difficult. Progressive artist Yun Bai proposes questions concerning new identity as she transforms the intimate flesh and rawness of pornographic images into flowers of hope and beauty. Her unique vision results in art with social impact that questions, reflects, sometimes involving men to support women. Yun personifies the flowers and captures the struggle of the human spirit in that weary moment right before a significant breakthrough.

From afar you see the flowers - beautiful and detailed, but nothing out of the ordinary. Upon closer inspection, the leaves and petals reveal themselves to be female body parts drawn from a collage of imagery found in pornographic magazines. While some may view pornography as objectifying and exploitative, Yun uses the imagery as a form of empowerment to make something beautiful out of what the status quo deems vulgar. The Porn Flowers have grown to symbolize triumph over difficult times with a focus on healing, strength, courage, and enthusiasm for the future.

During college Yun learned her mother had cancer and her parents would be filing for bankruptcy. She was determined to graduate from Agnes Scott College, a private women's school, and needed to come up with money -- fast. She knew she wasn't slick enough to sell drugs, so she worked as an exotic dancer to complete her degree in Studio Art. From one perspective the dancers were mothers, college students, marketing consultants, and gym teachers. From another view they were sex objects, outcasts, drug addicts, and women of ill-repute. Yun constantly struggled with her identity, but finally came to embrace the idea that she is a flower; all women are flowers.

This idea of empowering women to see themselves and each other as flowers of hope and triumph was realized recently by one of Yun's collectors. As her fight with cancer drew to a close, this collector requested she be surrounded with her family, friends and favorite art, including the Porn Flowers. Gathering together these most meaningful aspects of her life she found comfort, support, and the strength to view her passing as the beginning of a new journey. This touched Yun very much as it was the most priceless of compliments she has ever received.

Not only does Yun strive to empower women but to also involve men in supporting equal rights of women. From donating unblemished porn, helping collage, to collaborating with her for charities focused on women's issues, men play an important role in the process of the Porn Flowers.

Yun wants her audience to know that after the struggle, something extraordinarily beautiful always prevails.

About Yun Bai www.yunbai.com
Born in Beijing, China (1979), and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, Yun Bai considers herself both Chinese and Southern. Exhibiting nationally and internationally has allowed Yun recognition by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ART PAPERS Magazine, Art Asia Pacific, LA Weekly (Top 10 Emerging Artists), New American Paintings, World Journal, and The Wall Street Journal. She is represented by Visual Arts Legacy Collections (Atlanta, NY, Europe) and New Gallery (Houston). ARTSPROJEKT also recently invited Yun to be on their international merchandising platform.