Xiaohong Zhang: "Traversing Medium & Re-Approaching Motifs in Contemporary Art"

"Electric circuitry has overthrown the regime of 'time' and 'space' and pours upon us instantly and continuously the concerns of all other men. It has reconstituted dialogue on a global scale" (McLuhan  16). This phrase demonstrates exactly the spirit of Xiaohong Zang's work. Her paper cuttings and digital work blend traditional Chinese art styles and mediums with modern day issues. These cover not only those of the working class in China, but across the globe. The interconnectedness of people around the world is evident in her work, in the mere fact that audiences are interested in art centering around the struggles of those whose lives are far different from, and far away from, theirs.

A prime example of blending of current-day issues with traditional styles would be Zhang's print "A Thousand Miles of Mountains." The print when viewed further back has the appearance of a characteristically majestic ancient Asian landscape painting. Upon closer inspection, however, one can see that this work depicts construction rigs, cranes and smoke stacks from factory buildings. This commentary on the environmental issues that plague modern China is made all the more poignant in masking it as a traditional scene, which creates a longing for the landscape of the past destroyed by human hands.

A Thousand Miles of Mountains, digital print on canvas, 2017

Another illustration of the artists' concern for issues of the present era is her series of digital prints "Last Kiss," a set of works in honor of the losses at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. Using herself and her family as models, she captures an everyday exchange between siblings and parents before school, the viewer painfully aware of the tragedy to come. The scenes combine paper-cutting with digital processes, with newspaper headlines pasted onto the work.

Last Kiss I, II and III, digital print and paper-cutting, 2012-2013