Tearing Through Red and Green

2024; Resin, metal, foam, hand coloring, ready-made objects, ceramics; 21.7 × 15.8 × 31.1 in

This piece follows on from May You Live 10,000 Years, featuring a child devouring an enormous watermelon. After the peach, the watermelon caught Jin’s attention because of the markings on its skin, which resemble stretch marks when skin stretches due to pregnancy or obesity—symbols of the swelling of life and desire, suggesting an imminent rupture or unbearable pressure. Additionally, the work’s core lies in the absence of the “face,” which, in Chinese culture, represents identity, dignity, and social expectations. The child’s face is obscured by the watermelon flesh, which appears sticky and sickly sweet. Two streams of black “tears,” the watermelon seeds spat out by the child, run down both cheeks. This creates a melancholic yet contradictory scene, revealing an intense desire for sweetness alongside its associated costs. The “watermelon-eating boy” seems to be unconsciously confronting pressures far beyond what someone of his age should bear.