A new form of "politics" is emerging, and in ways we haven't yet noticed. [...] Participation [...] is changing everything.
-Marshall McLuhan
My choice of medium is just as important as my choice of style.
-Xiaohong Zhang (mildly paraphrased from lecture)
The most striking component of Xiaohong Zhang’s artist talk was her political commentary, both in the symbolism of the finished works themselves and the history of the medium / materials themselves. I enjoyed how she created contrast between the materials, the style, and the finished product-- especially in her landscape utilizing traditional Chinese color techniques with industrial cranes replacing trees and her collage of newspaper clippings of school shootings that became a papercut of parents kissing kids goodbye.
Xiaohong’s role as a ‘maker’ extends far deeper than just her finished art piece. Indeed, how she makes her art adds to the symbolism of her work. For example, a papercutting silhouette, much like the pregnant woman made of tree branches she created, carries a different weight than a drawn or painted silhouette because the fragility of paper informs the contrasts present in her work. Furthermore, the interconnectedness of tree branches symbolize more when they are literally holding together the art than if they were just added on top of a traditional canvas.
Lastly, I appreciated that that Xiaohong began her presentation not with her art, but with those who inspired who (particularly Zhao Wuji and Kara Walker). Art cannot be created in a cultural vacuum, and it’s difficult to make something without inspiration.
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