Cathy Lu, a Richmond-based artist, engages the material culture and diasporic experiences of Chinese and Taiwanese immigrant communities. Her work references traditional Chinese imagery and that of other cultures, aiming to address assumptions about Chinese American identity in the United States. This exhibition, Lu’s first solo museum presentation, features a site-specific ceramic installation inspired by Nüwa, the Chinese goddess associated with fertility and marriage, who was said to have molded humankind from clay. Lu imagines Nüwa as a ceramist and embodiment of women’s handwork, resilience, and power. Inspired by Nüwa’s snake-like body, this exhibition examines systems of belief, creation, and infrastructure as the groundwork for community building and cross-cultural knowledge. Lu’s interest in industrial piping systems plays a role as well, having grown out of her 2023 artist residency at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.