Zelene Jiang Schlosberg is proud to participate in the "... and the pursuit of..." international female artists exhibition presented by The Research House for Asian Art and Co-Prosperity, with other prominent female artists from China and the U.S.A.
In collaboration with Co-prosperity Sphere’s “The Pause Apothecary,” “…and the pursuit of -” presents an intersectional and interdisciplinary exploration of menopause and the female vision. This exhibition brings together artists whose practices juxtapose the bucolics of form and creation with social critique of the valuation of women through public negotiation and the historic dominion of fertility, and works that explore the cavernous mystique of MOTHER. We are interested to exhibiting works that invite contemplation and action towards the following F’s: Fecundity & Fertility, Family & Fortune, Form & Felicity, Freedom & Futurism.
As part of The Research House for Asian Art (RHAA)’s ongoing effort to expand the realm of the Asian cultural critique and investigation, this exhibition will also feature a broadcasted podcast/radio series that will bring together artists, scholars, and activists in dialogue about the state of feminism in China and diasporic communities. We aim to engage and collaborate in intergenerational and multicultural dialogue with the hope of introducing and normalizing conversations about feminism and activism in Chicago’s Asian community, the Sinosphere, and beyond.
Curated by
Shannon Lin, Paula Volpato
Exhibition Artists
Lise Haller Baggesen, Larissa Borteh, Amanda Joy Calobrisi, Ava Carney, Xiaowei Chen, Susanne Doremus, Zhen Guo, Hana Jiang, Xinmo Li, Duk Ju L Kim, Bobbi Meier, Zelene Jiang Schlosberg, Mary Lou Zelazny
Opening Reception:2022.09.30, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
Exhibition Date:
2022.09.30 — 2022.10.19
Gallery Address:
3217 S Morgan St, Chicago, IL
3219 S Morgan St, Chicago, IL
Gallery Hours: Tue — Sun, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
White Ensemble Space
Zelene Jiang Schlosberg
I cut, paint, and arrange canvases to create hybrid works that dangle precipitously between painting and sculpture, with attention to line and architecture always present.
I begin my art making process with sketches and then proceed with cutting and manipulating the canvas. The act of cutting manifests immediately and intimately. The gesture of the blade in motion translates to direct emotion. Centered around the female body as a literal and symbolic site of contestation, agency, and resistance, my artworks attempt to disrupt the silence shrouding women living on the peripherals of the patriarchal state.
Most recently, I have become preoccupied with several interrelated themes. One is fecundity -- as it relates, first and foremost to female anatomy, but also as a quasi-philosophical concept for (re)generation and renewal. Despite the oppressing and oppressive state of our current world, the uterus and womb, literally and figuratively, provides answers and provocations. I do not shy away from these structures in my recent works, even if the ultimate effect is abstract, or, at least, hard to pin down. Violence against women takes many forms. Women take on the mission of giving birth to create life, and yet this is also a reason for their suffering. The nails in my works emerge from their putative art making origins to represent some of this trauma.
While form is a very general artistic concept, and of great importance to the overwhelming majority of art makers, for me, in my recent work it takes on immense meeting. Arriving at a conclusion for a work's structure is not simply a case of “choose your own adventure” but based on study of historical painting, line, and many other considerations. Even so, I often rely on improvisation to capture the subjective state of the moment. My compositional ideas stem from study of Old Master paintings, including triptychs, as well as the Eastern influence of Chinese ink paintings. For example, although the presentation of the image is complicated, the penetrable space left by the cut canvas is reminiscent of the "emptiness" in Zen Buddhism and the "blank-leaving" in landscape painting.
Visually, you can see the tearing of the canvas, revealing the wood that supports the canvas. This expression stems from my feelings about human (particularly female) suffering. Chinese idioms include "the heart is cut like a knife", "Thousands of arrows pierce the heart ", and so on. I try to visualize these words. In the use of materials, I specifically choose cotton thread: during the creative process, I have found that no matter how torn and shattered I ended up cutting the canvas, because of the linking of the cotton threads, the picture always comes together in the end. I think this is also a metaphor for women's forbearance and tenacity. Great and brave women can finally overcome suffering. If we are in this together, weak voices can form a powerful force to shake, enlighten and change society and hearts.
The last concept I would like to single out is simply: the future, a difficult theme to address particularly in The Age of the Anthropocene. Media and Social Media have conquered our attention, making it increasingly difficult to reflect on the future with any degree of critical thinking. We are seeing and seen constantly, yet we are not able to perceive with any degree of sophistication. My neutral color palette speaks to this tension, yet the meditative quality of the work invites introspection and perhaps even prophecy.
白色重奏空间
蒋贞蕾
我先画草图，作为我艺术创作的开始，然后在绘画的帆布框上进行剪裁，挖出大小和形状不同的洞来延伸空间，甚至把框架进行折断肢解，或把它们叠放排列，并用剪细的帆布搓成的线或棉线对这些画框进行分割或困绑，有时还把我从密执安湖边捡到的石块编织进画面，形成了在绘画和雕塑之间摇摆不定的混血作品。我不断地进行切割，操纵画布。切割的行为即刻而又亲密地表现在画面上；运动中刀片的手势转化为直接的情感。我的作品以女性身体的感受作为中心，是女性抗争的图像。我试图打破笼罩在男权边缘的女性的沉默。
最近，我开始专注于几个相互关联的主题。一个是繁殖力——因为它首先与女性生理有关，但作为一个准哲学概念，它与繁衍（再生）和更替有关。我们的世界始终处于压迫和被压迫状态，但子宫和子宫在字面上和比喻上都提显着问题以及可能获得的答案。在我最近的作品中，我并不羞于回答这些问题，即使最终的效果是抽象的，或者很难被理解的。针对妇女的暴力行为有多种形式。女性承担着生育创造生命的使命，但这也是她们痛苦的根源和起因。我作品中的剪碎的帆布、绷紧的绳子、和固定它们的钉子，从它们假定的艺术创作材料中浮现出之前没有的含义，代表了这种创伤。
视觉上，观众可以看到画布的撕裂，露出支撑画布的木头。这种表达源于我对女性乃至人类苦难的感受。中国成语有“心如刀割”、“万箭穿心”等。我创作时试着想象这些话。在创作过程中，我发现无论怎么撕破剪碎帆布，但因为棉线的链接，作品总是最后融合在一起。我想这也是对女性忍耐和坚韧的一种隐喻。所有的女性联合起来终将可以战胜苦难。如果我们在一起，就像棉线连接的帆布，柔软的汇集可以形成一股强大的力量，撼动、启迪和改变社会和心灵。
虽然形式是一个非常普遍的艺术要素，对绝大多数艺术创作者来说都非常重要，但对我来说，尤其在我最近的作品中，它需要进行一次重大的重组。对形式的重新组合不仅仅是“自我选择的冒险”，而是基于对绘画历史、线条的发展、及结构的净化等诸多研究和考量。我的构图常常源于对古代大师绘画的借鉴研究，包括三联画，以及中国水墨画的东方式表达，因此图像的呈现方式往往会显得复杂。即便如此，我还是经常依靠即兴创作来捕捉我的主观感受，让剪裁后的画布留下的可穿透空间让人联想到禅宗的“空”和山水画的“留白”。
最后，我有一个简单的想法：未来，公共媒体和社交媒体彻底征服了我们的注意力，使得用任何程度的批判性思维来思考未来变得越来越困难；我们看越多越无法进行感知。痛苦哪怕一瞬间也过不去，我们也不应该放弃寻求内心的平静，就像我充满暴力作品里的平静色调，那种冥想品质而引发的反省… 给予我们力量。全世界女性终将获得平等的预言定会实现。