Deconstruction Transformation Reconstruction
By Zhang Xiuzhu (May 2009, Beijing)
Nowadays, the openness of cultural concepts and multi-dimension of artistic forms contribute to continuous expansion and interaction of the extensions of different art categories both east and west. In recent years, apart from continuously employing such familiar forms of expression as wash and ink or line drawing, I have been engaged in other expression forms like sculpture and oil painting in succession, thanks to breakthrough in creation concepts. Both the materials and expression forms employed in such works manifest a characteristic of marginality.
In the latter half of 2006, I experimented with the technique of Xuan paper rub-molding in creating a series of relief works which represent the image of modern women .The reason that I use the new phrase "rub-molding" is that the creation technique and process are different from those of "paper-molding", and "pulp-molding", and this craft is of distinctive Chinese folk art features. The series of Xuan paper rub-molded works named Dreaming Image were displayed on the "Harmonious but Diverse. Southwestern China Contemporary Nominated Sculpture Exhibition", and were purchased and treasured by the Australian Ray Hughes Gallery.
In 2008, I was invited to "From Lausanne to Beijing--the 5th International Fiber Art Biennial Exhibition", for which I created a catena named "Dreaming Image. Celestial Beauty" that consist of 15 large-sized works. The ultimate forms of these works are relief sculpture and full relief rub- molded on finished Xuan Paper made in Anhui Province.
Creation concepts and making of this catena are revealed through two levels: ideological and cultural connotation, as well as material expression, with the two relying on each other. At a time when traditional cultural concepts are inherited while continuously deconstructed and transformed, conventional phrases have to be borrowed for description. For instance, we are accustomed to say "subject matter" or "object of expression", which in my work refers to the representation of a certain state of imageries, and actually what my works try to express is "the image of peony". Peony is a kind of poetized flower that embodies the ideological and cultural characters recognized by both common Chinese people and conventional literati. Naturally. it displays also multiple ideological dimensions, especially when under the current context, its presentative features can be "borrowed" to derive more ego interpretations. The images I adopted are represented in an impressionistic style of traditional Chinese paintings, and the emergence of traditional impressionistic flower and bird paintings is a liberation in the history of Chinese paintings in terms of both ideology and expression method. Simplicity, elegance, rareness, contumacy, indulgence, waywardness, aesthetic ecstasy and fortuity, valued by scholar painting, are thoroughly and passionately represented. What gets my special favor is the free expressional style and noble spirit contained in the cultural connotation of the impressionistic peony paintings by Xu Wei, Wu Changshuo, and Qi Baishi.
To some extent, it can be said that they "interpreted" their self-expressions during the process of "borrowing". As my bozzetto (mud prototype) can also be regarded as inheriting such imagery expression craft, it shall be considered as "relief of impressionistic style".
Certainly, as a modern artist facing a greatly changed cultural context, I would by no means intend to make this catena a pale interpretation and simple imitation of the tradition. I would rather emphasize the unique expression features of modern sculpture artistic language as well as the true-self in human nature.
Likewise, the previously mentioned creation concepts will inevitably be reflected in materials and expression forms. It employs paper as final representing material that is transformed from mud and plaster. And all the papers used are Xuan paper from Anhui Province as is the most favored in Chinese tradition. The Xuan paper represents profound and distinct characters of traditional Chinese culture, and thus is a cultural symbol itself. The manufacturing process of the Xuan paper itself is process of deconstruction, transformation and reconstruction of natural materials. Xuan paper made by hand is enduring and easy to keep, as an old saying goes: "Long live is the paper. That is why I decline other paper materials and paper pulp (even if the pulp of Xuan paper), for using other materials would remove the most precious factors of Chinese culture, and thus deconstruct the consolation and sympathy deep in the heart and soul of the Chinese people. From the bozzetto, pour-molding to rub-molding, I always pay special attention to the handicraft of my manual work and try my best to exclude any mechanism and modern tools during the process. I want a real communication experience between the soul, the hand, the mud the plaster and the paper, for this process seems such a luxury at time when traditional humanistic spirit is materialized.
The whole process of my creation is a reconstruction during which both the spirit and material are revitalized through deconstruction and transformation. First of all, I create impressionistic paintings with clay and utilize the softness of the mud to give prominence to its expressional function. During the process of making bozzetto, treat every piece of mud as a brush pen to dip in ink to make forms. There's almost no repeated shaping so that the original state of the mud produced through a spontaneous and impromptu experience with the hand, the hammer and the knife can be kept, and the state of mind at that time would be subtly retained through the mud. The bozzetto is made in a bold and unconstrained manner, and with a large size, it shows a kind of virility in like manner with that of a burly chap singing majestic songs like "River of No Return". It therefore can avoid the kind of smallness often exists with those works being too exquisitely and artificially carved, deconstruct the stereotype of peony as a mellow and delicate flower in traditional aesthetics while retaining the conventional impressionistic style in its expressional feature, and reconstruct its modern aesthetic image grounded on maintaining the core of traditional culture and ethos.
After finishing the bozzetto, I cast it into plaster mold, and the plaster is fairly sensitive to the form and quality of materials so that the original state of the bozzetto can be retained. The sharply contoured feature and hardness of the plaster contribute to another aesthetic transformation of the soft and rough properties of the clay. In the last procedure, I adopt the Anhui Xuan paper to make a multi- layered rubbing and forcing on the plaster mold from the inner side to the outer side through manual work. The bonding agent employed is the paste (with alum preservative) used for mounting pictures not chemical glum water. What's more, I try my best to preserve the purity of traditional hand-made materials. The first and second layer is rub-molded by the Xuan paper made in Jing County in Anhui Province, and the hydroscopic property and smooth surface of the Xuan paper subtly retain the contour of the plaster mold. For the last layer, I adopt elastic mulberry paper rich in spandex fiber in order to enhance the plasticity and strength of the work. Since the creation of the bozzetto is highly haphazard, and its varied shape is of great complexity, after the pasteboard gets completely dried, the plaster has to be knocked off so as to demold. For the small fraction of plaster stubbornly remained in the saucer shape, I've preserved it intentionally to directly represent the transformation process of the materials and crafts, which results in the uniqueness of the work.
During the process of making and creating the work, whenever the last piece of bozzetto with a vivid trace of my life is washed off, or plaster mold with subspace visual effect and made of unique material is knocked off, I would feel lost and sorry for them. However, when the completed paper work with a weight no more than several kilograms for each piece is presented before me, the distinct whiteness and texture of the Xuan paper make the work look extremely austere but elegant, simple but pure, which presents a kind of oriental grace. I find solace from the work for the potter's clay weighed 20 odd tons which has been endowed with life once and now become mud again, and also for the broken pieces of the tons of plaster molds.
Since this catena has a duality of both flat surface and three dimensions, and especially because of positive space and subspace formed through rub-molding of paper and the lightness of the material, the work can be displayed in many ways and appreciated from different dimensions freely.
This Xuan paper rub-molded catena named Dreaming Image. Celestial Beauty is composed of 15 individual works, including 3 full relief (each divided into three parts) and 12 deep relief. The 15 works are originally designed as a large-sized group for an exhibiting space about 20 meters high. The 12 deep relief will be hanged from top down at interlacing positions and the three full relief as points connected from top down so as to form a sacrificial rite entitled Dreaming Image · Celestial Beauty. Because of the distinct whiteness of the Xuan paper and the multiple visual angles of positive space and subspace, and the extended visual width and the huge size, the work looks sacred and ethereal and is full of power and grandeur. Due to the limited space of the "Fiber Art Biannual Exhibition"(including two extended exhibitions) as well as the later "Chinese International Sculpture Almanac Exhibition", only one relief sculpture from this catena was exhibited in flat pattern. There is another set of works composed of two suspended full relief. It creates an imagery of "drifting clouds".
The creation through the rub-molding of Xuan paper is a process and an integrant of my total art exploration. The concepts of deconstruction, transformation and reconstruction applied are one of the most essential characteristics of modern art. I will make further expansion and extension in academic ideas, especially the link to other materials.