Mère Nature et ses Enfants, Mother Nature and her Daughters
Maker
Laleu, Philippe
French, b. 1964
Date2011
MediumInstallation; DVD; Inkjet prints
Credit LineExtended loan of the FarEastFarWest collection
Object numberEL2011:64.1-31
About the ArtistPhilippe Laleu’s work explores issues of culture and sexuality. While living in Thailand, he became fascinated with what he calls "the phenomenon of the third sex," or Thailand's transgender population. This interest prompted him to create Mère Nature et Ses Enfants, which combines photographs, documents, and a video interview to explore Thailand's population of people living outside of the traditional male/female binary. The video component of this installation documents a conversation between the artist and Tannia Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, a transgender filmmaker whose controversial film Insects in the Backyard was banned in Thailand due to its content, an act of censorship that angered many in the transgender community. Laleu has also included photographs and a transcript of a conversation between himself and another person about coming of age as a young transgender person. Despite assumptions that Thailand is accepting of variations in gender identity and sexuality, Laleu’s work addresses the daily struggle that transgender people face to be themselves.
![In Florence’s last months, when she could no longer go out to the Botanic Garden for dinner, our dear friends Josh and Signe Murphy and their daughters India and June came over with all the necessary provender and utensils, and cooked complete meals for us three or four times. When Florence died I solved some of the problem of what to do with her clothes by giving a bunch to 15 year old India. India adored Florence - and was thrilled to inherit her favorite skirt and sport jacket. [...]](/internal/media/dispatcher/4591/thumbnail)
Shay, Arthur
1953 and 2012; printed 2014