Past Exhibition

Art on Demand 5.2

Artist Ketty Zhang and Curated by Lisa Edwards
Mar 14, 2019
to
May 05, 2019
EXHIBITION
Ketty Zhang, from the series Therapy, 2019, digital print on paper, 13 x 19 in.
Ketty Zhang, from the series True Colours, 2017, digital prints on paper, 4 x 6 in. each

In this exhibition, emerging, Fraser Valley-based artist Ketty Zhang explores her own experience with cross-cultural identity and the challenges of being a “1.5 generation” immigrant: someone who settles in a new country when they are still a child or young adult. Zhang’s work is comprised of performance and ritual that is documented as intimate self-portraits in two related bodies of work: (True) Colours and Therapy.

(True) Colours depicts the artist performing a symbolic act in response to a cultural identity crisis she experienced shortly after immigrating to Canada. In each successive image, Zhang’s face undergoes a transformation as it is gradually covered with layers of dark ink poured over her head, then partially wiped away. The dark ink suggests the donning of artificial skins, masks, or facades, while also mimicking the falling of tears. When the ink is finally wiped away, it leaves a residue or stain – the mark of a permanent change of the self that has occurred.

In Therapy, Zhang explores the traditional healing ritual of “cupping”, a process in which cups are heated and placed on the body to stimulate the flow of blood and “qi”. Zhang expands on this practice by first writing down a negative experience, words, or thoughts on paper, then burning them inside the cups to heat them. In the companion installation of glass cups, only small snatches of burnt texts are visible — ashy remnants of self-doubt burned up in a process of transformation.

Zhang’s work prompts us to consider where we come from and how the experience of existing between cultures affects not only our individual identity, but also our understanding of others. Throughout her work, Zhang uses art as a healing process to navigate through difficult experiences, as well as a way to preserve her Chinese heritage.

The Reach Art on Demand 5.2 Monograph

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