Stella Zhang's solo art exhibition
From a distance, Stella Zhang's predominantly white installations appear dreamy and delicate. But take a closer look and her messages about femininity and sexuality become clear, almost painfully.
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Galerie du Monde
From a distance, Stella Zhang's predominantly white installations appear dreamy and delicate. But take a closer look and her messages about femininity and sexuality become clear, almost painfully.
"Art allows me to examine my true self, to interpret emotions and spiritual thoughts; to remove the mask and show the true face of human nature," says the artist ahead of her solo exhibition at Galerie du Monde.
"My work is emotional and embodies a relationship that falls between reality and dream, rather than a description of a specific story."
To create that place between the two realms, Zhang has produced all-encompassing hand-sewn installations shown alongside a series of sculptural monochromatic paintings. Her language is pure and direct — "I've always been embroiled with issues relating to the feminine identity" — with pieces that carry explicit references to the male and female sexual organs. There is also one work that features toothpicks protruding from the skin-like surface.
It's hard not to feel a sense of pain and fragility — and that's just what the artist wants. "Each viewer will have a unique way of seeing my work, according to the life experiences and psychological state that the viewer has at that time," she says.
Zhang was born in Beijing "in the 1960s" with art in her DNA (her father, the acclaimed brush painter Zhang Ping, was a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts). "My father was my only conduit to art. He led a serene life behind closed doors, painting and creating, so I came to understand that in a world limited of alternatives, art would be my only option."
After graduating from Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Art in 1989, Zhang studied in Tokyo for 13 years before moving to America 11 years ago. She says the different cultural experiences have shaped her perception of the world.
"I've experienced many impulses, both physical and mental, that have taken me from one place to another ... Living at the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures has influenced my vision of life. My mind is usually hovering between what is real and what is imagined. Therefore, my work is very personal and reflects my inner conflicts and struggles.
"When you move from a familiar culture into another, you feel unsettled ... you reflect on and generate new understandings of your surroundings. These reflections are clearly shown in my works — the cultural difference among China, Japan and the US, to the micro such as differing cities have an impact on my process."
