Miranda Fengyuan Zhang (Shanghai, China, 1993, lives and works in New York City) embraces cultures and ties them together using fragments of wools. The concept of “recycling” what is considered abandoned is inspired by her grandmother, who, during difficult times, unraveled jumpers to knit new ones, creating interesting shapes and unexpected color palette, which goes beyond the idea of recycling, and speaks of parental love and the connection between external and internal beauty. In her work Zhang creates semi-abstract gardens, vaguely concrete landscapes, animal silhouettes, tranquil rivers and layers of colorful mountains, celebrating the mythology of life and nature.
In Zhang's work, material dominates, and ideas follow. She perceives the color, texture and temperature of the wool and lets the material tolled the way to mystical enlightenment. Her work creates a Garden of Eden, where she emerges herself in a kingdom of colors, cool evenings in the desert, or quiet afternoons over the lake. She further extends the palace of her memories to capture the hidden power within seemingly mundane objects. Like traditional Chinese ink paintings, Zhang’s way of working does not allow fixing or adjusting, but rather is an improvised process lead by momentary inspiration and technical skills. Although the works do not portray the east, her artistic thinking is innately eastern.
Zhang has had solo shows at Capsule Shanghai (Shanghai), Mendes Wood (São Paulo, Brazil; Brussels, Belgium), Half Gallery (Shanghai), Halsey McKay Gallery (New York), and Dear Rivington (New York). Other exhibitions include: Mendes Wood Gallery (online) and Chambers Fine Art Gallery (New York). She has been the recipient of the La Maison de l'Art Contemporain residency in Asilah, Morocco and will be an upcoming resident at the Arquetopia Foundation in Oaxaca, Mexico.
