The boundaries of reality are the area of play…

I met sculptor Chen Fei at a little craft shop in Old Beijing nearly two years ago. She was living near Nanluoguxiang and had been experimenting with making masks with paper maché and I was immediately drawn to the expressive possibilities of these hutong characters come alive. Over the span of two years, our friendship grew as we saw the surroundings of our neighborhood demolished and rebuilt at a jaw-dropping rate. As old businesses move out, new businesses settle in; Chen Fei was forced to move with the construction of the new metro line… This series is inspired by the simple people who inhabit here and whose lives are constantly affected by the mass exodus in the face of modernization. It is an elegy to the perishing traditions and lifestyles that made Old Beijing such a unique place.

This work is on show at CNEX as part of the annual Greening the Beige art show. All prints are for sale and the proceedings go to the art collective Greening the Beige. Please contact organizer Carissa Welton for detail.

In April 2010, we are holding another art show with a stage performance involving a new series of masks at CNEX.