Art of the week: Dreamer Red by Choi Xoo Ang

Tell us something about the artist.
In his sculptures of human figures, 36-year-old South Korean artist Choi Xoo Ang highlights the metaphorical abuse of an oppressive society on its people.

What's this work about?
In 'Dreamer Red' (2007) the impressively detailed and stark-naked female figure displays a high level of verisimilitude, allowing the viewer to experience her anxiety, fatigue and vulnerability. She is a dreamer worn down by her ambitions and yearning, almost rendered to a vegetative state.

Why is her hair like that?
The mass above her head is more than she can take, and she is hanging loosely on the cliff of expansive delusion.

What's the message?
Choi’s sculpture shows what we want is but what we lack – in pursuit of dreams that society and the media tell us to have, it is so easy to become lost in reverie.

What's the most memorable comment you've heard about this piece?
'It looks just like you…or me.'

See 'Dreamer Red' by Choi Xoo Ang at 'Regards Croisés: A Selection of Asian Contemporary Art' (7 Oct-10 Dec) at Art Plural Gallery.