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FuXiaotong is a master of perforation. Using a technique she developed herself, she uses a punching tool to create seemingly simple holes in traditional Chinese rice paper. FuXiaotong refuses to cover the surface of the organic Xuan paper she so admires, revealing its qualities by digging its surface hundreds of thousands of times with a needle. It is worth analyzing the process by which it 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 an angle from left and right. Each work is preceded by a detailed preliminary study in which the subject is broken down into a complex network of interlocking parts numbered from one to five. So far she has mastered the use of needles, meaning she can imagine how different combinations of directional strokes result in convincing depictions of rocks and water. Up close, the texture of her works on paper resembles textiles or tapestries in the intricate interlocking of the various units of directional pinholes.