Student artist strips off to expose the naked truth of life

Wang Yanyun, a second-year at Renmin University, held her first naked body art exhibition on campus and later accepted interviews from eight mainland reporters while nude, which made her a target of controversy. The 19-year-old Hubei native attracted both criticism and encouragement. While the mainland media generally honoured her request to protect her family by allowing her to use the pseudonym Su Zizi, her critics claimed that her stories about being a bad girl in middle school and her home's demolition were made up to try to attract more media attention, all of which she denies

How did you arrive at the decision to exhibit your naked body?

My first work, 'Who Am I?', was a part of a group exhibition at school. I wanted to show how people face themselves while naked. The body was just the medium. The group exhibition failed, but, fortunately, some good friends who saw my work decided to help me hold a personal exhibition. I had worked as a nude model before, so it was not strange for me.

Why did you decide to work as a nude model?

I had to come up with enough money to pay for my tuition as well as daily living expenses. My second stepmother sold her apartment to pay for my painting training [while I modelled], and my grandma was still in hospital because of the demolition in 2008. I once worked three part-time jobs - as a sales clerk, a restaurant cleaner and a Chinese teacher - at the same time. It was just a coincidence I became a nude model. I was very scared the first time I modelled for an amateur photographers' club, but I earned 500 yuan [HK$590]. A few months later, I started an internship for a fashion magazine, trying to learn photography.

How was your childhood?

My parents divorced when I was three. I was a rebellious girl. I smoked, used ketamine and got into fights in school. I ran away from home several months before my middle school graduation. I just wanted to leave the place because I hated it. I took a train to Beijing alone and stayed with a group of migrant workers. They were very nice people. We lived just outside the West Railway Station, where I observed a whole world of people from the bottom rung of society. A few days later, the police found me and sent me back home. Then my teacher asked me, had I ever thought that I should be nicer to myself even if I felt left behind by others? One day I woke up and spent three crazy months studying and finally entered one of the best high schools in my hometown. I studied very hard in high school, but the demolition of my maternal grandparents' house was really a big blow to me. The forced eviction destroyed my family, and my grandma was paralysed because of it and is still in hospital. I knelt down in front of the government building, but was completely ignored. I was just 16 years old. Suddenly I realised the world was totally different from what we learned from textbooks. After that, I knew that I needed a bigger platform from which I could talk louder, to make others hear what I say. A normal citizen like me has no right to talk. I studied harder because I felt that if I failed the exams, I would never be forgiven. Finally, I entered Renmin University.