Quilted Emptiness is a multimedia installation composed of a live performance and 29 round quilts suspended from the ceiling. Artist Yiwei Leo Wang performs in a recreation of a clubbing scene: alone in an empty space, dancing to loud music, drinking, and all the while fabricating disco ball-like quilts at a sewing machine that replaces the usual DJ booth. Rather than providing the audience with the quotidian purpose of blanketing, the suspended quilts project the fleeting comfort of the clubbing. As a retreat from everyday issues, partying, and celebration, may seem trivial, but such moments of escape can be critical for survival. Inviting the audience into the space to become part of the atmosphere, the performance evokes the dazzling, communal experience of clubbing, creating a temporary utopia before we are forced to face reality once again, this time alone.

A native of Shijazhuang, China, Leo (Yiwei) Wang now resides and works from Chicago, Illinois. Presently, he is pursuing concurrent graduate degree in Fine Arts Sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. As a multi-media artist, fashion model, and aspiring architect, Leo address key phenomena in today’s social media and pop youth culture by paying attention to issues such as night life, Internet facade, gender stereotypes, the power dynamic in sexual interplay.