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© 2012  modaustin.net all rights reserved.
Jane Mattingly - Art Contributor for modaustin.net writes a regular blog
regularmain.com  focusing on Texas Artists.

Beili Liu “The Mending Project,”
an installation at Women and Their Work
through April 2

Beili’s time and process based installation “The Mending Project” looks at transience, fragility and time
lapse in the exhibition space at Women and Their Work. She creates an atmosphere of beauty and
danger by suspending hundreds  of pairs of dagger sharp Chinese scissors from the gallery ceiling, the
razor sharp blades pointing downward; attendees are thus immersed in an environment suggesting
distant fear and looming violence. The hovering cloud of shears is softened by the artist calmly sitting
beneath the countless blades performing the simple task of mending a cloth that continually grows
in size over the floor.
The hovering, massive cloud of scissors alludes to worrisome uncertainty while the simple task
of mending suggests the power of silent persistence. As each visitor enters they are asked to
cut off a piece of the white cloth hung at the entrance and offer the cut section to Beili.
“The Mending Project” comes with an edge and gives voice to the tender action of
mending and of care, connection, healing, an action to counter the intense weight
and harshness above.

The scissors are forged from black iron, smooth and curvilinear in form; in Chinese tradition,
a pair of scissors is considered a harsh object not to be positioned pointing at a person
as it could bring ill fortune. Its intrusive power is well respected in Feng Shui throughout
Chinese history. Also, scissors historically in times of need have become an effective
weapon for women.
Women & Their Work is a nationally known alternative space or non-collecting museum close
to Austin’s downtown on Guadalupe founded in 1978 has actively presented hundreds of
visual art exhibitions, music, dance and theater events, literary readings, film festivals and
workshops. W&TW, the first organization in Texas to receive a grant in visual art from the
National Endowment for the Arts sponsors an educational program to reach undeserved
children in Austin ISD schools.

A Chinese American born in Jilin, China, Beili is an assistant professor of art at the University
of Texas in Austin.
Women and their Work
1710 Lavaca. Austin, TX 78701
512.477.1064
www.womenandtheirwork.org

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