John Yuyi documents the regret that followed her nose job

John Yuyi is a little impulsive, although her latest work has been a lifetime in the making. Growing up in Taiwan, the combination of being bullied and exposed to a Western idea of beauty unsurprisingly left the now New York-based artist insecure. When lockdown sent most of us into isolation or at least behind a mask in public, Yuyi, who had returned to Taiwan, thought the timing was fitting to book herself in for a nose job.

“I made this whole PDF, like a presentation, for the doctor,” she tells me over Zoom. “Because I know how fake peoples’ noses can look.”

Medically speaking, the surgery was a success, but Yuyi immediately regretted her decision. Two weeks later, she was booked in to reverse the results. During the surgery, part of Yuyi’s ear bone was moved to her nose to create its new shape, before promptly being put back. To commemorate its short stint as her nose tip, Yuyi treated it to a trip to the amusement park, a bunch of selfies, and, ultimately, a book to immortalise, what was, in her words, “this ridiculousness of my lifetime” – aptly titled In memory of my ear bone that was once in my nose for two weeks. The day before it went back to my ear, I decided to take my nose on a date to an amusement park, just the two of us. The book follows Yuyi’s recovery through a series of confronting, bandaged and bruised selfies juxtaposed with a day at the amusement park.

Yuyi first grabbed our attention in 2016 when she plastered temporary tattoos over her naked body, probing our infatuations with social media and the traces they leave on us. Since then, she’s been tapped to shoot for Gucci, Marc Jacobs, Self Service magazine, and more. As In memory of… launches at Hotel Grand Amour Paris, we speak to Yuyi about its parallels with feminist performance art, the pervasive influence of Western beauty standards, and how she uses art as therapy.

Tell me about how this all came about.

John Yuyi: The pandemic was the best time to do plastic surgery because everyone was in lockdown or under their masks. Growing up, I was really not confident about my nose. [In Taiwan] the Western cultural beauty standard [is] we want our noses to be smaller, more pointy. So during the pandemic, I was like, I’m just going to do [the nose job]. I made this whole PDF, like a presentation because I know how fake people’s noses can look.

You made a deck for your nose surgery?

John Yuyi: In Korea or Taiwan, they do crazy plastic surgery, so I was telling them please don’t make my nose look like that. I did the surgery, woke up, and then I was like, no, this is too pointy. I look mixed-race now. No Asian should have this super pointy nose. The doctor was saying it’s just the recovery period, give it some time. But I was looking back at my old pictures, thinking about my round nose. My family and I go to this restaurant together [in Taiwan], and the owner says we all look alike. So I was thinking, I can’t go back to that restaurant anymore because my family members have round noses, and I now have this European, pointy, narrow nose. I had a breakdown, and I called the doctor. I told her I regret this, I don’t care about the money I spent, I just want to reverse it. The doctor was calm, but she was definitely not happy with my breakdown. She asked what I wanted to do with the ear bone. I said, is that a question? What should I do? She said people usually put it back in case they change their mind. I thought, OK, this part of my ear is just functioning as storage [Laughs].

So the reversal was two weeks after the surgery?

John Yuyi: It was around two weeks. It was a classic Yuyi move. Doing something impulsive, regretting it, just a dumbass. I didn’t tell my family, I told them I had something light, botox for my smile lines... not that I had a whole four-hour surgery.

So there was a solution to get out of it, and I could go to the restaurant with my family again. I was thinking, I did something impulsive and stupid, [now] I’ve got to do something to memorise this ridiculousness of my lifetime. Nothing was really shut down during the pandemic in Taiwan, so I went to take some selfies...

At the amusement park! Which I love because...

John Yuyi: It’s ironic. [Laughs].

It’s like you’re comparing noses with the animal statues...

John Yuyi: I was wandering around, and I was like, yo, that guy also has a pointy nose. [Laughs].

That sense of humour is so present in your work.

John Yuyi: You’ve got to have humour. Even pessimistically laughing is laughing!

Did you know these photographs would become a book?

John Yuyi: I have a lot of projects that are unpublished, but I clearly remember telling my friend that one day this will become something, and in that moment, I’ll feel like, I’m so glad. And when people find it hilarious, I feel it’s a worthy thing.

I see parallels here with feminist performance. A lot of women artists have used performance to channel shame and vulnerability. Do you connect with that reading of your work?

John Yuyi: I definitely felt that it’s a way of performance documented through photography. The concept of this, even the expression that I had, was genuine. I wasn’t laughing because I was feeling bad. I was like, I’m so sad. So now, looking back, it’s so real, so authentic, you can’t recreate that. You can’t just put a fake nose on it.

You interviewed my friend Alex Leese recently…

Yes. She’s a friend of mine. You were photographed for the calendar, too. I loved it.

John Yuyi: People on the internet were saying we just created another erotic calendar. It’s erotic, of course, but it’s about showing power. With this [book], people usually don’t want other people to know they’ve had plastic surgery. They will be like no, I didn’t do anything... For me, it’s [about] liberating myself. 

I totally agree. You touched on it before, this Western ideal of beauty. Did you always feel influenced by that? Or were you only aware of its influence in hindsight? 

John Yuyi: There’s a profound realisation, and I’m so glad I did this. Because growing up, the beauty standard in Asia was Eurocentric; pale skin, tiny nose. If you’re white-mix, then you’re pretty. It’s still there; it’s not changed that much.

I’ve already been through some plastic surgery. I had a square face when I hit puberty, and people in school would make fun of me. [After getting Botox] people treated me differently.

I didn’t completely reverse my nose – it’s more symmetric than before because it was a little crooked, but I took the nose tip out. I could honestly notice how people treated me differently after I was doing something to become prettier. The most important thing is your personality, who you are, how confident you are; this is so important. But it’s true that growing up as not the prettiest person, and getting prettier, people treat you differently.

I’ve been single for two years and a half, and before I felt that it must be because I’m not pretty enough – that’s why I’m unwanted. But now we know the problem is not I’m not pretty enough, it’s that I’m too crazy. [Laughs].

You’ve talked about art being a therapy for you. How do you feel now? 

John Yuyi: I was asking my friend, do you think this is a cock-blocking publication? [Laughs] It’s like being naked, but not in a sexy way. My friend said it’s very Yuyi. You do you and then people appreciate you. I think it’s beautiful [with] the background of amusement.

I’m happy you can have dinner with your family at that restaurant now.

John Yuyi: That was the moment I had a mental breakdown. That was the trigger reason – that I couldn’t go to that restaurant.

Do you think your earbone is happier back where it is?

John Yuyi: That’s the only thing I feel really bad about. Well, I feel bad that I didn’t tell my parents because what if something happened during the surgery? The other thing is, if my earbone was a character, can you imagine? They like woke up and then they’re here [points to nose]. Then two weeks after, like, hey guys, I’m back. Then the other part of your bone is like, where did you go?

A quick trip around the face.

John Yuyi: Yeah. [Laughs]. Thinking about that makes me feel like I’m sorry, earbone, that I did that to you. 

Now it’s got a whole book about it, though, in dedication to it.

John Yuyi: [Laughs] Yeah!

In memory of… is published by Dashwood and launches at at Hotel Grand Amour Paris on December 20, 2023. Pre-order it here