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Art History and Philosophy major
With my background in the Chinese four arts (guzheng, go, calligraphy, and ink painting), my calligraphy work has established genuine friendships for me since childhood. For me, art is artists supporting artists. My art history understanding and curatorial practice enhance my studio artwork which supports female artists and investigates the presentation of femininity, the materiality of calligraphy, and the interplay between characters and images.
To Gunther Kress's quote “the medium of inscription changes the text”, my drawings investigate subjectivity through metaphysical interconnectedness, representing female subjects through reflected and extended physical bodies in a flowy setting resembling the sea of my hometown. My oil pastel drawing Twenty-One (2023), size 1.22 x 1.76 m, explores the materiality of wool and body as the medium of calligraphy, adapting Julio Cortazar's essay "Don't Blame Anyone". The work expresses one's entanglement and impasse by the reality that one contrived and enforced one's initiative. By throwing my twenty-one-year-old body clothed with the painted-blue Forever 21 sweater onto paper as calligraphic brushstrokes, I challenge Yves Klein's misogynistic approach in Anthropometry of the Blue Period (1960). Blue refers to detachment in Buddhism, and this piece also documents my effort in confronting my mental struggle for the entire twenty-one-year-old that feels a bit distant as I turned twenty-two a month after this piece was completed.
My diptych Bodhisattva (2023), size 61 x 22.5 inches, extends the exploration of materiality by hand-printing charcoal drawings onto canvas. Iconographically female, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is known in Chinese as Guanyin (觀音菩薩). Guanyin in Chinese denotes “seeing the sounds”. I am intrigued by the concept of seeing the sounds instead of listening to them since it also ties back to my personal experience of losing my hearing for a month when I was young and constantly losing my hearing after flights due to ear barotrauma. Relating to Guanyin in Chinese culture and tinting the figures' hair blue, I pay tribute to women who saw the sounds of my thoughts and feelings that render me a better human being. The female figure depicted is my best friend in college who studies data science and economics. Critiquing consumerist culture, I paint commodities on the ghost imprint red, which symbolizes passion in Chan Buddhism whereas blue represents detachment. The mutual effects on the canvas and the paper present the discussion of shadow.
Continuing the Buddhist blue color symbolism from Bodhisattva and Twenty-One, my prints Lotus Beads (2024) feature the same character from Bodhisattva surrounded by pink lotus flower Buddhist beads threaded by blue and red electric wires. The burnt borders of the frame suggest the burning state of wires circulates detachment and passion, and the destruction and completion.
Further investigating the meaning and interplay of the text and image, my calligraphy work interacts with calligraphy strokes in my zine 風和日麗 (2024; Moderate wind, beautiful sun), of which I document my global travel story with my friend (the same one depicted in Bodhisattva–Candice). 風和日麗 is a common starting phrase in essays used by Singaporean schoolers and appears in a neon sign in one of my favorite bars. The phrase marks the beginning and possibilities of all stories, especially Singapore is a tropical city with heavy rainfalls. I further collaborate and improvize calligraphy with graphic artists by corresponding to their drawings through form and semiotic meaning. As I practice guzheng improvisation with violin and piano, I investigate collaborative improvisation with text and image through Chinese characters’ pictographic nature.
My website chuxinzhang.com showcases works reflecting my belief that art practice is a sign of mastering the art language, and speaking this language helps me understand other contemporary artists.
Twenty-One
Twenty-One
oil pastel on sweater and paper
Jewett Gallery
My drawings examine the idea of subjectivity through the metaphysical interconnectedness of female subjects represented by the reflected and extended physical bodies. To Gunther Kress's quote “the medium of inscription changes the text”, my recent research on materiality and the medium is presented through my oil pastel drawing Twenty-One (2023). Familiar with traditional Chinese calligraphy which uses a wool brush, I extend the material of the wool from a brush into a sweater. By coloring the Forever 21 white wool sweater blue and wearing it, I repeatedly threw my twenty-one-year-old body as brushstrokes onto the paper and presented an embodiment within the materiality. The piece is an adaptation of Julio Cortazar's essay "Don't Blame Anyone" in expressing one's entanglement and impasse by the reality that one contrived and enforced on one's initiative. Twenty-One functions as my challenge to Yves Klein's Anthropometry of the Blue Period (1960). By opposing Klein's misogynist approach of using naked female bodies as a white male artist, I assert a feminist attitude with my active female body clothed with a sweater. Blue refers to detachment in Buddhism, and this piece also documents my effort in confronting my mental struggle for the entire twenty-one-year-old that feels a bit distant as I turned twenty-two a month after this piece was completed.
Bodhisattva (观音)
Bodhisattva (观音)
charcoal, pastel pencils on paper and canvas
Jewett Gallery
In Mahayana Buddhism, Buddha means the “enlightened” or “awakened” one who is no longer part of the world of suffering. Bodhisattva is a Buddha who went through all the suffering and enlightenment but still chooses to come back to the world to help others to become Buddhas. According to the Lotus Sutra, Bodhisattvas are "as many as the sands in the Ganges”. Of all the Bodhisattvas, one of the most popular is Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.
Iconographically female, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is known in Chinese as Guanyin (觀音菩薩). Guanyin in Chinese denotes “seeing the sounds”. Guanyin sees the sounds of the sentient beings instead of listening to them. I am intrigued by the concept of seeing the sounds instead of listening to them since it also ties back to my personal experience of losing my hearing for a month when I was young and constantly losing my hearing after flights due to ear barotrauma.
I continue the tradition of depicting Guanyin as females in my works since I agree that many women in my life have a strong ability to see and understand the sound of sentient beings. The female figure depicted is my best friend in college who studies data science and economics. Critiquing consumerist culture, I paint commodities on the ghost imprint red, which symbolizes passion in Chan Buddhism whereas blue represents detachment.
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