Mountain Bluff, Cascading Waterfall, from the series "Sacrifice" One from a set of twenty-four album leaves; ink on paper; with signature in clerical script (lishu) reading "Li Junyi 90"

Editor: This piece is "Mountain Bluff, Cascading Waterfall" by Lee Chun-Yi, created in 2005. The gridded effect makes it feel almost like a pixelated landscape. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Considering the "Sacrifice" series title, I immediately see the labor involved in its production. The grid, so meticulously rendered, speaks to a system of control imposed on nature. Editor: Control? How so? Curator: Think of landscape painting's history, often commissioned by those who owned the land. Here, Chun-Yi presents a mediated, constructed version. The materials themselves, humble graphite perhaps, become a commentary on value. Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered. It really changes how I see the piece!