The Art of Dora Hsung

by Sarah McDonough

Windmill, by Dora Hsiung

In an ongoing quest to find relevant connections between theatre and other art forms, the A.R.T. front lobby gallery will host a display of work by local Chinese-American artist Dora Hsiung during the run of Snow in June.

While so many artists struggle to think outside boxes, Dora Hsiung turns boxes into art by yarn-wrapping. Born in Shanghai, she calls herself a fiber artist, having taken her work off the loom in search of a new way to weave. She found her inspiration in traditional Chinese dumplings known as tzungtzu. The Chinese make these dumplings by wrapping mixtures of meats, egg, and rice in bamboo at an annual summer celebration called the Dragon Boat Festival. Hsiung built six-sided triangles that mimic the dumplings' shape, and bound them with brightly colored strands of yarn. The models became vibrant forms that seemed in flux at every angle.

With her colleagues' encouragement, she began wrapping other shapes too- weaving the yarn both vertically and horizontally to create three-dimensional reliefs. Simple squares and triangles soon emerged from their frames and developed their own motions. Hsiung has been experimenting with this technique for over thirty years, always finding new ways to fashion a series of stray objects such as beer coasters, old speakers, and blank CDs into assemblages that seem to occur naturally.

Just as Charles Mee has drawn from an ancient Chinese source to create a contemporary drama with Snow in June, Hsiung has used a Chinese tradition to invent a new weaving technique. Beyond the work on display in the lobby, her installations are displayed on-line at www.hsiung.net and at the Depot Square Gallery in Lexington, MA.

Sarah McDonough is the A.R.T.'s literary intern.