The Art of Rest

White Canvases.

Participates : Karolina Pawlik, Masha Zolotova, Virginia Yiqing, Boyi Zhou - Photographer|Translator

Jinji Lake plaza

Suzhou. China

2025

ICIOM

Zhangzhou. China

2026

In Suzhou’s Jinji Lake Plaza, a group of women recline on blank white canvases, each claiming a small space of her own. The action draws on two Chinese traditions: the serene landscapes of shan shui painting, where sages find harmony in nature, and wǔjiào (午觉), the afternoon nap—a widely accepted cultural practice associated with the right to rest. The canvases separate the women’s bodies from the ground, transforming individual rest into a public scene. Rather than allowing themselves to be overlooked, the women assert their presence and ownership of the city. Their horizontal stillness contrasts sharply with the fast-paced urban environment, representing a quiet rebellion. By featuring female bodies, the performance challenges societal perceptions of vulnerability. These women emerge as contemporary sages, claiming tranquillity in the heart of an industrial landscape and demonstrating that even busy spaces can hold room for peace.

The work was reactivated in 2026 during Figure of Speech, an all-female group exhibition at ICI Open Museum, Zhangzhou, China, held as part of International Women’s Day. I invited gallery visitors to rest on white canvases placed beside the image of the original performance. The reactivation was important because the artwork is not really the photograph—it is the act of resting. The photograph documents a past performance, but reactivation keeps the work alive as an ongoing, participatory practice. It turns viewers into participants: rather than simply looking at women resting, they physically inhabit the same gesture, testing the work’s central proposition—that rest can be claimed anywhere, even in busy or institutional spaces.