A third place

Hetain created large photos of himself with patterns applied to his torso. In seeking to avert his gaze from the viewer – to present the body patterning without confronting through eye contact, without engaging the viewer with the individual – he has deliberately turned his head away. The resulting positions reveal both a tension and a vulnerability. The poses he adopts effectively express the tension created by conflicting cultures, and at the same time, by so exposing his chest and throat, without protection, leave him unprotected and vulnerable.