Capsule Shanghai is pleased to participate in Artissima, Italy’s leading Art Fair, taking place from November 4 to November 7, 2021, at Turin OVAL, in the Lingotto Fiere district.
On view is 'The Shape of Wind', a solo project by Miranda Fengyuan Zhang, (b. 1993, Shanghai, China; currently lives and works in New York, USA) focusing on her most recent body of work, made with handwoven cotton.
The artistic practice of Miranda Fengyuan Zhang lies where abstraction and figuration intersect with intellectual and manual dimensions. Being the result of the balance between improvisation, the artist’s emotional response to the fabrics she selects, her technical expertise, and experienced use of a traditional weaving tool, the loom, the landscapes Zhang creates are visions that pay homage to the energy of nature.
Inspired by her grandmother, who in difficult times used to unravel old jumpers to knit new ones for her family, Zhang became fascinated by a wide variety of crafts inherited from our ancestors. From textile art to ceramics, she was moved by the potential hidden in humble materials. Zhang uses fabric, not just to create different tactile effects and nuances that please the eye; most importantly, she uses threads to try to mend the broken balance between man and nature, filling the gap between nature and culture.
Unfolding before the viewers’ eyes are landscapes that transcend the limits of pure mimesis, becoming an enigma, waiting to be solved by the attentive gaze of the audience. Just like in the tradition of Chinese landscape painting, her landscapes embody an atmosphere, a mood, and a feeling, rather than the depiction of a specific geography. Devoid of any human presence, these works remind us of the necessity for mankind to reunite with nature and embrace a holistic approach towards artistic creation, and life in general.
