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Beauty Recovery Room Ji Yeo

In her series Beauty Recovery Room (2010), Ji Yeo offers a glimpse into the process of cosmetic surgery in Korea. The photographs, shot soon after surgery show women in the very early stages of healing, still wrapped in gauze and bandages following their operations. Here the concept of surgery is raw - the women are in a midpoint in between ‘imperfection’ and ‘perfection’, a time when they would normally hide away.

The impact on their bodies is noticeable and their pain can be comprehended. In viewing these women in this way, it makes the extreme nature of such a process obvious (Fig.5). To be sat in bandages, looking deflated and beaten, in the pursuit of beauty may seem ludicrous to those who cannot relate.

In her statement, Yeo says,

Going under the knife, enduring bruises, scars, and being under general anaesthetic several times are no longer considered risky or extravagant. They have all had multiple procedures and have plans for future augmentation.[1]

One can sympathetically reflect on the suffering of these women in comprehending what they must endure in wanting to take such extreme action over their bodies. However, the fact remains that these procedures are not actually seen as extreme in Korea. This fact puts in to perspective how frighteningly obsessed with beautification society can become. Beauty is a currency for women in Korea and the high standards have created a de-sensitisation and normalisation of cosmetic surgery.

Kathy Davies stressed the importance of not undermining women who make this choice. Instead of targeting the women who make this choice, the culprit is certainly society on a much wider scale.    To completely accept a society which places the image of perfection on a pedestal so high that it requires women to have their bodies cut up to achieve it is not an option. Women could feel like they do not belong in their body for multiple reasons, but one of those is inevitably because they feel inadequate when comparing themselves with mainstream imagery of ‘perfect’ bodies. While Yeo’s women may take some form of control of their bodies to re-negotiate their identities, it could be argued that the situation itself may not have materialised if society regarded women’s bodies in different ways. The change begins with society viewing women as more than just bodies.

In 2014, South Korea ranked third in the world for the amount of surgical procedures (surpassed only by United States and Brazil, with their significantly higher populations)  and third for face and head procedures, with an overall a total of 440,583 surgical procedures carried out that year.[2] The post popular procedures were eyelid surgery and rhinoplasty, surgeries which aid in achieving a more western aesthetic.[3]

Untitled (Fig.6) shows a woman covered in bandages. She stands in a pose which implies discomfort with her arms crossed and her eyes averted away from the lens. It can be established that surgery was completed on her face (perhaps her jaw), her arms, her legs and her breasts. The woman’s bruising and scarring is hidden beneath the bandages. She appears like she is being held together by it and would fall apart if unravelled. Without the bandages, she would be semi-naked, but the intervention of cosmetic surgery has meant that she will be forever clothed by her modifications. In her quest to be ‘nude’ she denies her own nakedness.  Her shadow is cast on a bare wall, as a reflection of her body and has been distorted by her pose and bandaging. It is as if she stands purposefully away from another version of herself, discontent with it. The shadow could also be interpreted as an inclination that she is now a shadow of her former self.

In Untitled) (Fig.7), the mark of cosmetic surgery can more clearly be seen. It is ironic that the woman pictured has endured cosmetic surgery to improve her appearance, yet appears no doubt in a worse state due to the cuts and bruises on her face. She shares a likeness with a woman who has been the victim of domestic abuse and as she stares, exhausted, into the lens, it gives the strong impression that cosmetic surgery is a painful process. It is interesting that what has become such a normal process for women in parts of the world like Korea can still ingrain an image as disturbing as this in the mind. This is due to the fact that women are generally seen before or after surgery, when healing has taken place. It is not uncommon to hide or deny surgery, women are expected to become ageless beings of perfection and despite numerous regimes, interventions and rituals - to appear effortlessly beautiful. In her series Beauty Recovery Room, Ji Yeo highlights the reality of achieving such standards of beauty that are impressed on women in the dominant visual culture, offering an important glance into the beauty industry and the painful processes women go through in order become closer to the ideal.

[1] Ji Yeo, Beauty Recovery Room < http://jiyeo.com/thebeauty-statement/> [accessed 9 August 2015].

[2] International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, ‘Procedures performed in 2014’, ISAPS International Survey on Aesthetic/Cosmetic, (2014), 1-18 < http://www.isaps.org/s Media/Default/global-statistics/2015%20ISAPS%20Results.pdf > [accessed 10 August 2015], (p.4).

[3] Ibid, p.12.

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