Synthetic Anatomies

Introduction

Synthetic Anatomies features East Asian artworks that idealize, abstract, or distort the body. These manipulations undermine the association between the body and the individual. Instead of acting as portraits, the works explore shared experiences like immigration, war, and the search for enlightenment.

The term “synthetic” refers to “synthesis,” or the act of combining different materials to form a new product, often a man-made alternative to a natural process. These artworks are products of synthesis—the contemporary artists draw on varied resources like traditional techniques, avant-garde movements across Europe and Asia, and their own experiments with form and material. Similarly, the historical works are shaped by artistic exchange, circulating technologies, and religious practices.

The objects in this gallery challenge easy categorizations like representation and abstraction or tradition and modernity. Instead, they incorporate a range of inspirations that solidify the abstract, giving shape to experiences, values, and identities that elude simple definitions.

The Curatorial Process

Synthetic Anatomies draws on objects donated by the significant collector Gabrielle Lurie, placed in conversation with objects from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s permanent collection. For my final project as a Curatorial Fellow, I processed this incoming collection by researching each object, writing an acquisition report, and selecting objects to highlight in the installation.

The exhibition was installed in a gallery located between the Arts of China and Arts of Japan permanent gallery, emphasizing the multicultural nature of the exhibition and encouraging audiences to see both the distinctions and connections between Chinese, Japanese, and Korean artworks of the present and past.

Additional Images