Still Night Thoughts (i mistook it for the moon), 2026
paper, cotton bed sheets, silk thread, 159 grains of white rice, light box
18 x 29 x 4 ½”
based on the poem 靜夜思 (Quiet Night Thoughts) by the exiled chinese poet 李白 (Li Bai, 701-762).
my translation of the poem would read:
bright moonlight before my bed
at first i mistook it for winter frost
i raise my head to gaze at the bright moon
i lower my head and long for home
the center piece is made from two scraps of my old bedsheets. these are quilted with grains of white rice, each sewn into a private circle with silk thread. no knots were used. the accumulated weight of this scrap holds the three sheets of rag paper in place as a temporary architecture-in-fiber.
z. serena qiu is a textile & fiber artist 