galerie probst
Fu Xiaotong is a master of perforation. Using a technique she developed herself, she uses a punching tool to create what at first seem to be simple holes in traditional Chinese rice paper. Fu Xiaotong refuses to cover up the surface of the organic Xuan paper she admires so much, revealing its qualities by digging into its surface a hundred thousand times with a needle. It is worth analyzing the process by which she achieves such remarkable effects. In recent years, she has developed a "needle language" that includes five methods for approaching the surface of the paper.
Early in the development of this technique, it only perforated the surface of the paper from above, but now it also approaches from the back and at angles from the left and from the right.
Each work is preceded by an extensive preliminary study in which the subject matter is broken down into a complex network of interlocking parts, numbered one to five. So far she has mastered the use of needles, meaning she can imagine how different combinations of directional strokes lead to convincing depictions of rocks and water. Up close, the texture of her paper works resembles textiles or tapestries in the intricate interlocking of the various units of directional pinholes.
