In Lin Fanglu’s textile sculpture, She’s Four Seasons, 2023, the artist highlights the often overlooked and undervalued work of female artisans approaching traditional craftsmanship through a contemporary perspective. Fanglu joins NGV Curator of Contemporary Art Katharina Prugger to discuss how she honours the millenia old craft of the Bai women – a craft that entails hand-tying, knotting and twisting cotton fabric to produce intricate textures. Through this process, Fanglu explores the time consuming, yet invisible labour required to achieve these works.
About the speakers
Lin Fanglu studied at Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China, and the School of Design at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, majoring in Household Product Design. She has undertaken exchanges at the Karlsruhe University of Art and Design, Germany and Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan. Her first solo exhibition at Art+ Shanghai Gallery, Threads of Change, explored the need to unveil the important work of women makers, having lived and worked next to the craftswomen of Bai and Dong ethnic minority groups in China and honing her skills as a fibre artist.
Kat Prugger is Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Victoria.