Today we’d like to introduce you to Chenyang Zhao.
Hi Chenyang, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
For much of my life, I have traveled between China and the United States, which allowed me to explore my sense of closeness with both cultures. Through this constant switch between geographic and social environments, I have learned the relationship between time, space, objects, and culture and how they impact and shape the many facets of my identity. Using objects from everyday life and mass-produced items, my art encapsulates issues of social and cultural identity that are a consequence of transformed living space, living environment, and fragmented ideology from the perspective of an Asian woman.
Contemporary artists expose issues through their works that seem abstract yet are profoundly relevant to everyone’s life. By visualizing social systems, environmental elements, and humanistic concerns, artists not only raise public awareness of societal issues but also challenge viewers to reevaluate their roles within the environment. In this process, art becomes a bridge that connects individuals, society, and the broader ecosystem, inspiring imagination and action towards a sustainable future. As young artists facing environmental crises and periods of social upheaval, they are not merely creators but also guides and catalysts who, through their artwork, foster societal reflection and dialogue on critical issues.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My earliest piece sought to address my struggle with personal identity between two cultures. Chinese collectivism and Western individualism are two powerful, opposing forces in my life, which creates insecurity. This insecurity pushed me to search for a feeling of familiarity and self-discovery, leading me to observe and draw inspiration from everyday materials in my home, the place where I feel most familiar and warm. My work, The Metamorphoses Trilogy Series, tackles this problem by examining ordinary spaces through the odd-shaped wonders it creates using domestic objects such as mirrors, old clothes, used quilts, and extra wool. The piece focuses on repetitive building and deconstructing spaces where materiality can be seen in the middle between the strange and the familiar. Ultimately, I was able to transform my confusion into an empowering self-discovery through space and objects.
Art, for me, has become a formula for observation in this ever-changing world. I hope my work can serve as a portal for deeper exploration of the world. Every overlooked everyday scene holds the potential to become a profound medium for self-reflection and societal introspection. Through such exploration, we discover that each shift in identity is intimately connected to our perception and understanding of the surrounding world. This realization tells us that identity is not a fixed label but a dynamic, evolving process filled with possibilities for self-exploration and personal growth.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My new piece and experimentation replicate everyday items by hand to express the issue of identity regarding gender-specific societal contribution. In my recent piece, I used clay to create multiple inverted baskets that are stacked in an alternating fashion, forming one semi-enclosed space after another. The store-bought baskets that inspired me are free with a purchase of produce and consequently symbolize a “welfare” that the social market grants women. The repetition emphasizes the cheapness of these commodities while highlighting the cheap labor and cultural significance of the product for contemporary society. The piece demonstrates the impact that objects have on identity, specifically through acts of societal benefit and contribution, and how they can initiate cultural evolution. In my experimentation, I use plastic tubing and plastic ropes to weave nets and create handcrafted, patterned structures and fabrics. These kinds of polymers can be poetically linked to cultural memory of objects due to their unique physical characteristics of toughness, high elasticity, and viscoelasticity. They contain a kind of “shape-memory” where they can be deformed but also restored through the application of a stimulus, such as heat or light. The warmth of handcrafted items clashes with the industrial nature of synthetic materials, creating a tension representative of how society restricts women by exploiting and commodifying their contributions. My new piece and experimentation come together to demonstrate larger issues of constrictive gender expectations.
What’s next?
In my Asian community, women’s roles are often strictly defined and restricted. This cultural background motivates me to explore the position of women in East Asian culture and how these roles can be challenged and reshaped through artistic practice. East Asian women frequently endure in silence under the burden of cultural and societal expectations. In the future, I hope my art will serve to break this silence and provide a platform for these often-overlooked voices. I am also influenced by Asian feminists such as Chizuko Ueno, whose critical analysis of gender roles in Japanese society, particularly her deconstruction of the “housewife” concept and the traditional role of women in the family, has provided me with a framework for reflecting on and examining the role of women in East Asia. Her insights into how women shape their identities in response to social pressures and expectations have inspired me to think about how to represent these social structures in my sculptures. Toilets, factories, domestic settings—these recognizable environments frequently appearing in my work reflect my focus on how women interact with these socially predetermined roles in an effort to break away from conventional gender representations and showcase the diversity and complexity of women in modern society. Ueno’s theories encourage me to challenge the stereotypes of women in East Asian societies and explore how women find their place between tradition and modernity.
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