Kun Zhao

SAIC SHOWS 2023 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

Graduates

SAIC SHOWS 2023 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

Master of Fine Arts in Studio, Printmedia

My work is about creating beauty from the mundane. Now, plastic pollution is a big problem in the world. I was shocked by it, so I began to pay more attention to the usage of plastic materials. I embraced and accepted this kind of material, as opposed to being disgusted by it. I believe they are part of people’s daily life that we should learn to coexist with them. The goal of my current creative research is to explore the possibilities of art that plastic packaging waste can be made into. To achieve this goal, I conduct practice-based research by producing bodies of artwork.

• M.F.A. in Printmedia, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA, 2023
• M.F.A. in Printmaking, Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, China, 2010
• Member of Mid-Hudson

Landscape-1, 2022, Collage and painting, plastic bags, 68 x 68 cm

Traditional Chinese landscape painting is a symbol of traditional Chinese culture. It includes poems, calligraphy, the seal, and watercolor or ink paintings. I use plastic bags to make the opposite of traditional Chinese paintings, replacing the aforementioned traditional approaches. This aims to show and reflect the differences between traditional Chinese art and contemporary art in terms of ideas, skills and materials. In my opinion, traditional Chinese art pays more attention to skills and materials while contemporary art emphasizes the creative concepts behind the artwork. I wanted to raise an interesting conversation contrasting traditional and contemporary methods, which is why I chose the Traditional Chinese Landscape as the theme.

Landscape-2, 2022, Collage and painting, plastic bags, 68 x 68 cm

Traditional Chinese landscape painting is a symbol of traditional Chinese culture. It includes poems, calligraphy, the seal, and watercolor or ink paintings. I use plastic bags to make the opposite of traditional Chinese paintings, replacing the aforementioned traditional approaches. This aims to show and reflect the differences between traditional Chinese art and contemporary art in terms of ideas, skills and materials. In my opinion, traditional Chinese art pays more attention to skills and materials while contemporary art emphasizes the creative concepts behind the artwork.I wanted to raise an interesting conversation contrasting traditional and contemporary methods, which is why I chose the Traditional Chinese Landscape as the theme.

Landscape-3, 2022, Collage and painting, plastic bags, 68 x 68 cm

Traditional Chinese landscape painting is a symbol of traditional Chinese culture. It includes poems, calligraphy, the seal, and watercolor or ink paintings. I use plastic bags to make the opposite of traditional Chinese paintings, replacing the aforementioned traditional approaches. This aims to show and reflect the differences between traditional Chinese art and contemporary art in terms of ideas, skills and materials. In my opinion, traditional Chinese art pays more attention to skills and materials while contemporary art emphasizes the creative concepts behind the artwork.I wanted to raise an interesting conversation contrasting traditional and contemporary methods, which is why I chose the Traditional Chinese Landscape as the theme.

Rose Window of Notre Dame, 2022, Collage, plastic packaging, 235.2 x 225.2 cm

This work reflects the change in consumer culture and consumer behavior. Human consumption has an impact on the environment, ecology, religion, and spirituality. Nowadays, the environmental issues accompanied with consumerism have become more and more prominent.I want to show a contrast between the sacred and the mundane. The stained glass is a symbol of a sacred, holy place. In contrast, the material that is from people’s daily life, from the garbage, is mundane.

For Rose Window of Notre Dame, I collected packaging from my daily life and my friends’ daily lives. I put double-sided tape on the back of the packaging, cut them into strips, and sorted them by color. I use scissors to cut small dots one by one, then paste them on plastic sheets. The rose window form is thus recreated using thousands of dots, with the consideration of color balance and rhythm. The production of these works lasted about half a year.

For Landscapes, I used a hot melting gun to paste the folders of plastic bags on traditional Chinese paper. By combining painting and collage, I am advocating simplicity. The sentences were cut from plastic bags, then pasted on, but I changed the sequence of the letters to make them hard to read and to make it looks interesting. The sentences aim to substitute for a poem.

My current effort is still focused on the techniques of combining drawing and collage, creating beauty using wasted material. My future plans involve continuing the investigation of making art using plastic waste materials and its intersection with primarily printmaking and other forms with the idea of mining the importance of art history. I am particularly interested in environmental issues, and art display poses opportunities for raising awareness.

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