Qin Fengling, Rice Bowl, acrylic on canvas, 98" x 39.5" [250 x 100 cm], 2008
This image shows a bowl atop a tower composed of actual wooden chopsticks. Ms. Qin has created an image of the often-frantic struggle to get ahead, or even to survive, in China today. The bowl represents the promises of wealth and social advancement, even though the "iron ricebowl," or lifelong meal ticket of the communist past, is no more.