NEW YORK, NY.- For Asia Week New York, Alisan Fine Arts presents a solo presentation by artists Fu Xiaotong.
Based in Berlin, Fu Xiaotong is known for her intricate paper pinhole creations of “traditional” landscape compositions. In 2000, she graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, and in 2013, obtained a Master's degree in Experimental Art from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.
The title NUN has been used by Fu Xiaotong since 2020, with this exhibition marking the seventh iteration of the ongoing series. NUN (or Nu) refers to a chaotic life-force in ancient Egyptian mythology, known as the "Great Earth Mother". Often considered the oldest god, NUN is the personification of the boundless primeval waters of chaos, representing the primordial abyss from which all life and existence emerged. In both her paper works and sculptures, Fu consistently engages with the void—the spaces created by the armature of her sculpture, the holes created with each pinprick. She sees these empty areas as conduits to her subconscious, likening her practice to a form of meditation.
The gallery is showing a selection of recent works by the artist in which she interprets the natural world from two contrasting perspectives: from afar, in her serene, distant mountain and water-scapes, and on a microcosmic level, in her investigation of plant cells and organic tissue. In some pieces, forms appear densely aggregated, resembling cellular structures; in others, the dispersion and branching of pinholes evoke patterns of growth, division, or migration found in living systems.
137,320 Pinpricks and 145,978 Pinpricks adopt silhouettes reminiscent of church doors or arched entrances. According to the artist, these architectural forms do not function as stable religious symbols; instead, they suggest transitional spaces—thresholds between interior and exterior, matter and spirit. Here, form becomes a vessel for transformation rather than a carrier of fixed meaning.
Within Fu Xiaotong’s practice, pinpricking signifies both destruction and generation. As the paper is repeatedly perforated, it loses its original integrity while simultaneously acquiring new thickness, density, and rhythm. Light passing through the pinholes allows the works to shift according to viewing distance, angle, and time, evoking a slow, continuously evolving system.
Born in Shanxi in 1976, Fu Xiaotong graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts in 2000. In 2013, she obtained a Master's degree in Experimental Art from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Fu currently teaches at the School of Arts, North China University of Technology in Tangshan, and resides in Beijing and Berlin, Germany.
Since 2017, Fu has been honored with the Sovereign Asian Art Prize on three occasions. This includes the prestigious inaugural Asian Women Artist Award, a collaboration between the Sovereign Art Foundation and Vogue magazine in 2019. She was also shortlisted for the award in 2017 and named a finalist in 2025. Fu’s significant exhibitions in recent years include: Shan Shui Reboot: Re-Envisioning Landscape for a Changing World, China Institute Gallery, New York, USA; Words for the Future, ASE Foundation, Shanghai, China, both 2024; Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions, Asia Society Texas, Houston, USA, 2023.
Fu Xiaotong’s works are held in the collections of Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge; Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Fidelity Investments Group, Boston, USA; White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia; and Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China.
