Despite not being a well-known quote, 繪事後素 is important for interpreting Confucius’ thinking. Verbatim, 繪 means “to draw” or “to paint”, 事 means “thing(s)”, 後 means “after”, and 素 means “plain” or “monochrome”.

繪事後素 indicates the process of rendering a painting. One first portrays colorful parts, and then uses white paint to fill the rest of the area. The reason to fill the empty space with white paint - or simply leave it - is to encapsulate emptiness as part of the work, which is known as 留白 (leaving blank).

Inspired by Confucian and Platonic philosophy, I focus on the form (blankness) rather than the matter (ink/paint) in my 後素 (Post-Monochrome) series, which is composed solely of ECONYL® Regenerated Nylon yarn.

This work was made under the guidance of the faculty members of the Parsons Textiles MFA program. Photos credit to Jason Greenberg.