219,208 Pinpricks

Fu Xiaotong is a graduate of the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, after which she completed her postgraduate studies in the Department of Experimental Art, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing (CAFA). In her recent series of works on hand-made paper, she evokes vast mountain ranges through an extraordinarily labor-intensive technique, excavating the paper with a needle that she uses to perforate the paper. From the accumulation of marks ranging from pin-pricks to directional slashes, the images slowly emerge. The material qualities of the paper and the obsessive nature of the technique are emphasized by the way in which the artist prefers to display them, unframed and hanging from hooks on the wall.