Cui Xiwuen focusses on the profound upheavals in contemporary Chinese society. In her work she tackles societal questions like stereotypes based on identity and gender, or more private matters like femininity and sexuality. For Underground 2 she filmed a woman in the underground. The images seem to have been shot without her knowing, evoking surveillance systems and the omnipresence of mobile phones. The woman bites her lips and tears at her skin with her fingers as she looks about wearily. Sitting and dressed in red in the middle of a dark and agitated crowd, this presence questions us on the place of the individual and the status of women in large Chinese cities.

Marcella Lista, 2019