4 hours Body Paint by Xie Rong
Time-Lapse by Jamie Baker

In 2020, a mother of eight children locked up in an iron chain captivated the attention of many people in and outside China. Her story is beyond a tragic human trafficking case. She was named: Xiao Hua Mei (Little Plum Blossom) by the Chinese authorities despite much controversy and disagreement.

Can DNA be fake? Can identity be traded? Can 1.4 billion people save one woman? Can the internet's hottest topic break the censorship wall? Silenced, jailed, disappeared, delete, remove, forget …

The process of body-painting transformed my body into an intermediate space of social, political, and artistic expression. This pre-performance action is the passage between my life and art. To mint this time-lapse as our first NFT is a symbolic gesture to keep Xiao Hua Mei and her story alive, when so many in China have been silenced.

The role of translation, the passage between gesture, body and voice. My name is Xie Rong (Thank you Rose), I am a live action artist. Since 2011, I have been collaborating with my husband Jamie Baker on photographic interventions within my performance work.