"My paintings feature structural patterns as a visual theme. These patterns symbolize the ebb and flow of daily well-being, reflecting my ongoing struggle to gain and lose control, navigate repetitions, and regulate life."

Our interview with Ziyi Zhang discusses their process and thoughts behind their work.
Interview by Richard Starbuck.

Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your background? Where did you study?

I was born and raised in Beijing and spent a year in Shanghai before moving to Boston at 14 for high school. From a young age, I was always fascinated by drawing. Even in kindergarten, I loved it and took pride in my ability to replicate images accurately. People around me were often mesmerized by how realistic my drawings looked and considered me a talented artist. Though I was out of touch with the contemporary art scene, my strong passion for drawing drove me to pursue it in college.

I earned my BFA in Studio Art from Washington University in St. Louis and my MFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). While my background was in painting, I spent my time at SAIC exploring digital media, and I gradually evolved into a project-based artist. Interestingly, despite being in the painting department, I spent much of my time with the tech and writing departments. This cross-disciplinary approach has significantly shaped my artistic practice.

You use a variety of materials in your pieces, like text, screens, and natural patterns. What influences your choice of materials, and how do they help tell the story or theme of your artwork?

To be precise, my artwork creates the illusion of using many materials, but the primary material is resin. All my pieces are digitally created using a mix of software.

One distinct element of my paintings is the inclusion of short texts that tell seemingly trivial stories. I use text because I have an urge to tell stories, and text is the best medium for that. If you see the visuals of my paintings as abstract expressions, the text serves as a focal point. It gives the visuals substance, while the visuals set the mood for the text.

The visual and text elements drive one another. Sometimes I start with the text, and the visuals are inspired by it; other times, I have the visuals developed first, and the text is shaped by the imagery. This interplay allows both elements to enhance and complement each other.

The patterns in your paintings seem to tell a story about daily life and personal moments. How do these patterns and the writings you include shape the story of your artwork, and what do you hope people feel or think about when they see them?

My paintings feature structural patterns as a visual theme. These patterns symbolize the ebb and flow of daily well-being, reflecting my ongoing struggle to gain and lose control, navigate repetitions, and regulate life. Each painting's pattern mirrors the state of composure I'm in when creating it.

The writings included in my work recount seemingly trivial moments that we don't usually discuss but somehow linger in our memory. By highlighting these mundane moments, I invite the audience to introspect on the small, often overlooked fragments that sparkle in our lives. Through this introspection, I hope viewers might find sparks that bring a smile or provoke some thoughts.

How do you see your work, with its blend of traditional art techniques and advanced digital technology, fitting into the broader landscape of contemporary art?

I can't speak for the broader landscape of contemporary art, but I can explain my own decision-making process. The reason I employ advanced fabrication technology instead of painting traditionally has to do with my creative process. My paintings are digitally born. Since my undergrad years, I've been creating digitally, but back then, I would paint the entire piece, essentially copying my digital design onto canvas. I realized this process felt backward. No artist would paint on canvas first and then copy the painting digitally, so I wanted to avoid this backwardness in my creative process.

Initially, I considered abandoning the physical object altogether, which I did with my project Family Photo Album. However, I still wanted to have a physical object, which led me to research advanced technology and experiment with various robotic labs.

You might ask if this approach is more work and costly than just making it by hand. At the beginning stage, it definitely is, but I have faith that what I’m doing will eventually pay off.

Tell us a bit about how you spend your day/ studio routine? What is your studio like? 

Currently, I work from home, specifically in my living room, with my diligent assistant, Abu the Cavapoo. I view being an artist as a holistic way of life—a profound commitment to "living one's art." So, my practice is intertwined with my everyday life, and vice versa.

Unlike those with conventional jobs and fixed schedules, I rely on my own regulation to sustain my practice. Sometimes, I’m in control and can perfectly regulate my life: art-making, research, eating, working out, and playing with Abu—all planned out and falling in order. However, a lot of the time, I struggle to maintain this structure and often fall into chaos.

This constant attempt to gain and keep structure consumes much of my life and is a major theme of my paintings. My studio routine is a reflection of this dynamic—balancing periods of intense focus and productivity with times of disarray and adjustment.

What artwork have you seen recently that has resonated with you?

I was recently mesmerized by Bill Viola’s water drop installation, "He Weeps for You." I’m blown away by how it’s so elegantly simple, yet so intriguing and profound. I remember in art history class how Futurist artists strived to capture the essence of things, and I think Viola achieved that with this installation.

I see this work as a visualization of William Blake’s poem: “To see a World in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And Eternity in an hour.” Viola's installation brilliantly captures how the simplicity of a single water drop and the infinite complexity of the universe are intertwined, each embodying the other. There truly is a whole world residing in every drop of water.

Is there anything new and exciting in the pipeline you would like to tell us about?

Yes, I'm excited to share about my project, Pandora Box, which is currently taking shape.

Pandora Box is an intriguing project sparked by a peculiar incident. I purchased a brand new LaCie hard drive from their official store on Amazon and used it to store my personal files. In an attempt to recover my deleted files, I opened up Pandora's box—not only were my files recovered, but I discovered many footage dating back over a decade that did not belong to me but to various strangers.

This unexpected discovery ignited my curiosity, leading me to employ reverse searching methods and footage enhancement techniques to trace the origins of these files and locate their owners’ current whereabouts. I took it upon myself to reach out to every individual I could find and arrange interviews with them.

The objective is to gain insights into how their files found their way into my brand-new LaCie hard drive. As I immersed myself in the stories of these strangers, I found myself increasingly fascinated by their life experiences: how they have evolved over the years and what paths they have taken.

The project explores the ever-evolving nature of digital connectivity and raises questions about the fragility of our digital footprints. More importantly, it delves into the human condition, examining how people of different backgrounds make choices and live their lives.

Artist’s Website

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All images courtesy of the artist
Interview publish date: 04/07/2024