As Extended Bench is a durational performance that explores the body as both a drawing machine and a site of self-sacrifice, reflecting on the physical and emotional journey of motherhood. Through the act of drawing a straight line on a bench with the body, the work addresses the artist’s personal experience of the profound, life-risking physical transformation that occurs during labor, and the years of recovery and devotion that follow.
This performance contemplates the body’s resilience, the boundaries of endurance, and the quiet, often invisible sacrifices made in the act of raising children. It’s a work the performer Jingwei Bu has been working on daily since her children were born 15 years ago, through a conscious healing process physically and mentally.
As Extended Bench, Jingwei Bu, 2021, performance video. Video still courtesy of artist.
The performance unfolds in a series of slow, deliberate movements in which the performer’s body stretches across the bench, drawing an ephemeral line that extends from one end to the other. As the body moves, it becomes a metaphor for the constant stretching and giving that defines motherhood—the tension between personal limits and the need to give to others. As the performer continues, physical shaking and trembling emerge, symbolizing the exhaustion and emotional wear that accompany self-sacrifice.
The bench itself functions as a symbolic object in this piece, representing the selfless space where the body both supports and is supported. It is a platform of care, but also one of limitation. The performer’s body extends beyond its boundaries, echoing the experience of a mother’s physical and emotional boundaries being stretched in the service of her children. The body’s struggle to maintain balance on the bench is not just a physical challenge, but a reflection of the emotional weight mothers carry—the act of continually giving without rest.
Throughout the performance, the audience is invited to witness not only the visible toll on the body but also the underlying themes of vulnerability and sacrifice. The performer’s labor is marked by breath, sweat, and the subtle physical markers of exhaustion, each gesture representing the dedication, resilience, and love that are at the core of motherhood.
The work also explores the tension between continuity and rupture. As the body struggles to hold the position and draw the line, the performance becomes a metaphor for the unbroken continuity of motherhood, while also acknowledging the ruptures—emotional, physical, and psychological—that inevitably arise. The line, which begins as a perfect extension of the performer’s body, becomes jagged and fractured, mirroring the imperfections and interruptions that define the experience of motherhood. Each moment of collapse or shaking suggests the exhaustion that accompanies devotion, yet also highlights the resilience in continuing to give, even when at the edge of one's limits.
As Extended Bench is a meditation on the ways the body transforms through love and labor, highlighting the powerful, yet often unseen sacrifices mothers make. It is a recognition of the tension between giving and self-preservation, and an acknowledgment of the body's capacity to endure, break, and heal. Through this performance, the audience is invited to consider the ways in which we all give, stretch, and sacrifice for others—and how, in the process, we find ourselves both lost and found.
For more information on Jinwei’s practice:
www.jingweibu.com
@jingwei_bu
This performance is part of a series of movement-as-drawing works curated by Belinda Yee (@belindayee) for DRAW Space.
BIOGRAPHY
Jingwei Bu is a Tarntanya/Adelaide based Chinese-Australian visual artist who works across media and disciplines to explore the notion of time through duration-based artwork. Her practice is imbued by ritual and repetition and influenced by Buddhist Chan and Taoist philosophy. Bu’s work is responsive, experimental and participatory. She works across different media: installation, performance, video, drawing and painting.
From China to Germany, England and now in Australia. Jingwei's multicultural experiences deeply influence her work living as an immigrant since she was young. Jingwei Bu grew up remote inner Mongolia, studied Chinese traditional charcoal powder portrait drawing and English in Beijing and worked as a journalist and writer. She then moved to Germany where she studied contemporary art in a German Atelier. Before moving to Australia, she undertook further study in England and gave birth to her two children. Both deliveries were life-threatening. In Adelaide she obtained a Bachelor of Visual Arts and received the James Martin High Achieving Graduate Award and Graduate Fellowship award.
Jingwei Bu has exhibited and performed widely, both in Australia and internationally. She has performed at The Mill Adelaide in 2021, Performance Space and Nexues Arts in 2022, China Culture Centre and Woollahrah Gallery at Red Leaf in 2023, Adelaide Festival Centre and Vitalstatistix in 2024. Her work has been privately collected and was featured in Journal of Australian Studies, Art Edit magazine, SBS China, Art Collector Magazine and Indaily. In 2023 Jingwei Bu undertook a mentorship with Lindy Lee supported by Guildhouse Catapult mentorship program. In 2022 she was commissioned by the Adelaide Film Festival to create a new moving image work. In 2023 she won the Hospital Research Foundation Group Creative Health Art Prize and in 2024 she was a finalist for the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize.