In a deeply personal performance art piece titled “Autonomy,” artist Chella Man explores identity, embodiment, and self-determination. The two-part work, which debuted on May 2nd at Performance Space NY, sees Man engage with a hyper-realistic silicone sculpture – a “clone” cast from their own form.
At the heart of “Autonomy” lies a powerful act of reclamation. Man pierces, erodes, and transforms the mold of themselves, treating their body as a mutable canvas for self-expression. Having learned to tattoo specifically for this performance, Man lovingly tattoo replicas of their own body art onto the clone’s flesh, some becoming visible only as Man strips away the outer layers of silicone skin – emphasizing that tattoos are not mere surface adornments, but as evocations of something primal and internal.
The performance also sees Man inscribe the sculpture with surgical scars mirroring their own, including those from top surgery and a cochlear implant – “trophies of my body’s resilience and adaptability,” in the artist’s own words. Submerged in a clinical blue light, “Autonomy” recontextualizes these markings as acts of self-determination, even as it acknowledges the realities of the medical-industrial complex.
For Man, this work serves as a potent assertion of identity. “I conceived the idea of Autonomy years ago, at a point in my medical transition on testosterone, after getting top surgery, when I stopped noticing so many rapid shifts in my body. In this moment of stability, I began reflecting on how I had literally built my body,” Man says.
The culmination of this introspective process is an installation at The Jewish Museum, where the transformed silicone “clone” will be on display as part of the group exhibition “Overflow, Afterglow: New Work in Chromatic Figuration” from May 24th to September 15th. Bathed in warm, golden light, the figure serves as a powerful symbol of reclamation and growth.
“Autonomy” emerges from Chella Man’s celebrated multidisciplinary practice, which has seen them explore their personal and artistic journey through mediums like filmmaking, writing, modeling, and performance. As they state, “I don’t think the body is ever complete: time doesn’t stop. So to me this body I’m creating is a checkpoint, symbolic of a period of growth and an accumulation of revelations.”
Man has crafted a transcendent vision of becoming – an unforgettable artistic statement that asserts the malleability of identity and the resilience of the human spirit.
