Thistle is a fierce plant well armored with sharp thorns, from the stem to leaves to flower buds, all to protect its small, fuzzy, purple flowers. After blooming, the plant sends out feathery white thistledown into the wind.

Encirclement is created with hundreds of thistle plants, stemming perpendicularly from the wall, outlining two silhouettes of a standing and a bending figure. The performer then positions herself inside the thistle field, disguised and camouflaged with thistledown. The thistle plants surround her body as if protecting her, while she is in fact being embraced by the countless thistle thorns.

Photo by Tina Chang