Shi Hui

b. 1955, Shanghai

Sculptor

Shi Hui graduated from the China Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou (1982) (see art academies). In the second half of the 1980s, and like the artist Gu Wenda, she attended the workshop organized by Bulgarian tapestry (soft sculpture) artist Marin Varbanov, at the same school. During this period she was introduced to experimental practices with fibre and other soft material, which have since become her trademark. Shi Hui’s soft sculptures, often made by weaving and mixing white paper or fibre, defy gravity with their over-wrought constructions intertwining webs of spiky white elements. These piles of thread and mesh create the feeling of something both monumental and very light, suggesting a three-dimensional lace, but maintaining a strong sense of weight and physical presence. Shi Hui has stated:

During my artistic work… I have become aware of the fact the dialogue between artist and material is the simplest and purest form of expression in art. I especially prefer fibres because they bear both natural plant life and the will to be used by nature and man.

Be it fibrous hemp threads, very elastic cotton threads, white paper mesh or rough bamboo sticks, they all reflect the movement of life.

Shi Hui’s work has been shown at: ‘Alors la Chine?’ at the Centre Pompidou in Paris (2003); ‘Imaginaire Féminin: 5th International Exhibition of Sculptures and Installations, Open 2002’ in Venice; ‘Living in Time’ in Berlin (2001); ‘Century—Woman’ in Beijing (1998); ‘Die Hälfte des Himmels’ (Half of the Sky) at the Frauenmuseum in Bonn (1998); ‘Pulp Matters: Works on Paper’ at Art Beatus in Vancouver (1997).

Further reading

(1997). Between Ego and Society: Exhibition of Con temporary Women Artists of China (exhibition pamphlet). Chicago: Artemisia Gallery.

Liao, Wen (1998). ‘Tumultuous History of China’s Feminist Values and Art’. Chinese Type Contemporary Art Online Magazine 1.2 (January). Available at http://www.chinese-art.com/volumelissue2/

Xu, Hong (1995). ‘Dialogue: The Awakening of Chinese Women’s Consciousness’. ART Asia-Pacific 2.2 (April): 44–51.

Xu, Jiang and Shi, Hui (1995). Chess-Paper-Art: Selected Works by Xu Jiang/Shi Hui. Hangzhou: China National Art Academy Press.

FRANCESCA DAL LAGO