Lin Fanglu

This artwork made of cloth by Lin Fanglu is associating the softness of fiber with the strength of metal coming from a Dong craftswomen heritage. Lin Fanglu sees an analogy with women often considered as soft and weak but becoming stronger and more and more powerful over time.

The bright cloth – a traditional Dong minority handcraft fabric– inspired the artist and is the main material used in this work. The production of the “bright cloth” consists of over 20 procedures including dying, hammering, hanging to dry under the sun, applying egg-white to the surface, etc. Its shiny aspect gave its name.

Fiber, a material that is soft in the eyes of ordinary people and can represent women, can actually show a steel-like effect through thousands of tempers. Just like the visual effects of this work, women’s power is rich, strong, and indestructible!

When Lin Fanglu lived and worked together with the local craftswomen, she was impressed by the whole process involving incredible time and effort, hammering the fabrics over countless times. The women repeating this work over the riverbank and under the trees were shaping their very life by the hammer in their hand.

bamboo.