Interview with Zhang Shijie
1. In your artistic practice, the texture of your paintings appears rough, worn-out, and incomplete, with graffiti-like strokes outlining figures and a flowing paint texture. Could you share why you pursue this particular texture in your creations?
The rough look and feel of my artwork may stem from my personal viewing preferences and creative habits. I lived in a village in Hubei during the early 2000s, where the living environment was very rugged, with yellow muddy grounds and garbage dumps. I often went to the wooded areas by the river, using wooden sticks I found to sketch images, both real and imagined, on the muddy ground. I would also sometimes take my aunt's scythe to carve patterns on trees, and in the roadside grass, I would find rags and homework books discarded by older children, which I used for my artwork. However, the shape and form of materials like rags were beyond my control. During that period, there was a wave of layoffs, and factories gradually became abandoned. My cousin and I would frequently embark on explorations in the ruins, and the state of freedom and occasional experiences we had greatly influenced my aesthetic preferences and creative habits.
2. In your works, the combination of objects creates an ambiguous narrative relationship. Is there a specific narrative content intended to be expressed in your creations?
For me, I believe that narrative is inevitable in both abstract and representational paintings. In fact, the boundaries between the two are not always clear. The actions of the creator in the process of creation themselves represent a narrative that is intertwined with time and space. I strive for a kind of ambiguity in storytelling, which I personally refer to as non-artificial narrative, similar to Kafkaesque storytelling, where the associations within the imagery arise spontaneously. It is closely related to fragmentation, which is an inevitable consequence of the widespread information consumption and output in today's society, impacting individuals. Personally, I find that my creative habits align well with this fragmented and nonlinear narrative approach. However, specific narratives can also emerge in my works. I appropriate certain images that pique my interest, such as the recent news images of the Gaza massacre that deeply shook me, or images of children sitting amidst ruins. I weaken or dissolve the explicit directional narrative in these images. I believe that having an ambiguous stance and a transcription of unclear semantics is also a prevailing tendency in the present, and I attempt to incorporate it into my works.
3. In your works, there are also some recurring objects or symbols, such as people blowing bubbles, smiling toothy avatars, and mice. Do they hold any specific meaning to you personally? If so, please elaborate.
These recurring symbols mostly encompass my expression of concepts like death and illness. For example, the image of a mouse is associated with a childhood memory where I witnessed my mother drowning a captured mouse in a garbage-covered drain. It was an early realization of death, a callous judgment of the other's demise. At that moment, I couldn't distinguish between good and evil, and now I use this symbol to convey a certain state of death. The image of a person with exposed teeth is related to my experience of contracting pneumonia and acute bronchitis. The packaging of medication I took during illness featured a profile of a person's face with exposed teeth, making it a representation of suffering and pain.
4. This exhibition brings together your new creations while also including some of your previous works. Looking back on it, what planned changes and constants do you perceive? Additionally, were there any unexpected surprises that pleasantly surprised you?
My working method has always leaned towards intuition and experiential approach, and that is unlikely to change in the short term. When it comes to the presentation of my artwork, I constantly seek breakthroughs, and I get excited about transcendent visual experiences. For a long time, I used square frames for my paintings, but that felt restrictive and limiting. It was when I stopped imposing rules on myself that I began creating more authentic artworks.I do sketch as part of my process, but the final outcome is determined through experimentation and intuition. The sketches often differ significantly from the finished piece. Serendipity plays a significant role for me, and the presentation style of raw canvas and exposed wooden frames came about unexpectedly. This effect helped me solidify certain directions, and it was truly a delightful surprise when I discovered it three years ago.
5. As this is the inaugural solo exhibition of your career, what are your expectations for yourself, the audience, and the exhibition itself?
What I am most looking forward to is that this batch of works will finally present thebest effect according to the venue of the exhibition space. The works will be truly completed when they are finally presented. Before that, I may make some adjustments to the works. I hope that the resulting works will challenge the audience’s viewing habits and perceptions.
6. What do you believe painting represents? What do you seek to achieve through your paintings, or what kind of artist do you aspire to become?
In my opinion, painting relies on ample experience and expression. The present moment and our perceptions hold utmost significance as they are reflected in the artwork. The external world can provide the artist with certain conditions, and the artist, in turn, responds. Without such responsiveness, the outcomes would be entirely different. I aspire for my works to evoke a response. Art should not be a silent moment; it should provoke a reaction.