Mood # 29 is a touching introspection of the self, caught between two places as a hybrid identity. A vulnerable and honest self-portrait, the work seeks to explore the body as home. Alvin as an artist who lives between Singapore and London, constantly faces layers of multicultural experiences and has chosen to keep his body outside the frame consciously. It allows him to adjust his reality, which is further substantiated by the exaggerated size of his hands. There is a hidden yet powerful relationship between the frame, norms and representation that is being displayed. 

In Unmarked: The Politics of Performance, Peggy Phelan talks about the power of the “unmarked” and the visibility of the “marked” bodies. The unmarked category defines the norm or standard of society, such as whiteness. They are portrayed in such a way that they are described as “universal” or “authentic”, whereas marked bodies, such as racialized communities, are reduced to their identity markers. Hybrid bodies similarly tend to be over-analysed and categorised with their socially disadvantaged half. Unmarked bodies are systematised and supported by colonialism, patriarchy and white supremacy—all who benefit from the illusion of neutrality as it defies questioning of biases. Through markings or tattoos onto his body, Alvin challenges the larger process of otherisation–with its first step ensuring that the “Other” or “marked” does not look familiar to the “marked”. The marks on his body act as a visual language that challenges dominant narratives of invisibility imposed by the unmarked. Playing with the mundane and the unremarkable, Alvin disrupts the viewers' expectations, encouraging them to question how they categorise bodies. 

Placing his body outside the frame, Alvin makes a relevant statement of the power of presence through absence. Ultimately Mood # 29 becomes more than a self-portrait— it is an exploration of unbelonging, ethics of seeing and politics of representation. Who gets to decide “authenticity”? Why are some bodies perceived as “universal”? This work makes the viewer confront their own biases and hierarchies around them that influence their gaze.