Fisherwomen 

Curator: This work is called "Fisherwomen," an oil painting by Lin Fengmian. It plunges us into a bustling coastal scene. Editor: Yes, I feel the weight of that collective presence, the silent, steady rhythm of labor...it's a raw, earthy feel. It's less a painting and more a memory resurfaced. Curator: Absolutely. Consider the sheer number of figures and boats depicted. Each element contributes to this sense of place. Think of the fishing industry, the community, the daily routines--how art both documents and affects them. Editor: You know, I see it. There is something beautiful here but also…sad. It’s as if all those women and boats blend together into one object: work, hard work. But those soft colors make it hard for me to feel so sad, like a veil thrown over hardship. Curator: Coloration is key. Observe the use of flattened perspective, how this brings figures to the forefront. In these kind of representations, how are the contributions and value of women’s labor understood by their male counterparts and how do artworks such as this disrupt, or indeed promote, those gendered power structures? Editor: What intrigues me are their expressions – blank. Almost devoid of sentimentality. Are we seeing endurance or just plain resignation painted here? It could be, too, that painting like this is a way of dealing with hardship that brings together those who work together and see each other. Curator: That's precisely the question, isn't it? By bringing their individual experience to one focus, he highlights labor as both solitary struggle and collective endurance. In these paintings, the subjects have been somewhat romanticized to fit certain national images of a people; perhaps Lin's works tried to overcome the issue? Editor: Either way, that's a whole lot of fish. All those individual scales adding up. Curator: And consider all those boats constructed by those same hands... Editor: It certainly offers so much to unpack and consider, this humble artwork does.