Christopher Chapman writes about To’s work by observing that:

“In his work, Hong Kong-based artist Hiram To has explored media constructions of identity. In ‘Higher (Dior-orDi)’ 2002 he presents himself in the role of a fashion model, dressed in a minimal and cool style exemplified by contemporary glossy magazine advertising. The manner in which this image is presented is striking: as a double life-size, three-dimensional lenticular transparency in a glowing red illuminated light-box. Based upon an advertisement for Dior’s men’s fragrance Higher, To’s image parodies the intoxication promised by the product itself, as well as the power of advertising to dictate desirable self-images. The artist has deliberately made the perfume flask into a symbolic anonymous object to represent the allure of all luxury goods. To’s image is a self portrait, he presents himself in the guise of a contemporary urban sophisticate while subtly satirising the desirable nature of this identity-type. In aping the form of the advertisement, the image compels us to read it in terms of consumer desire, and it is a shock to realise how easily we may be manipulated by the slickness of the invented persona it represents.”

(Christopher Chapman, ‘I’m Not There’, Portrait27, 2008, pp.29-30.)