Zhang Yi often takes the material itself as a starting point for an artwork, examining the physical properties that interest her. Often made from found or commonplace objects, Zhang's sculptures and installations are characterised by the repetition and imitation of materials.
Read MoreWith a background in Chinese ink painting and calligraphy, Zhang became interested in sculpture after focused studies on Classical painting. The artist's concern with physicality is visible in her earlier works, which suggest the human touch or body, such as with the bent ink brushes sprouting out of a lump of lead in Ink Brushes (2016). In the wall-mounted sculpture Bite (2016), a vertical set of nails protruding from a lead slat resembles a gaping mouth with teeth, ready to snap.
A diverse range of components make up Zhang's works, often with a single object or material providing the base. Down To The River South (2019) began as a bamboo back basket, traditionally used in the Sichuan region, that the artist modified by adding layers of black and red ropes, small bird cages, and balls of thread in an exploration of material changeability. Presented with its back on the floor, the basket now evokes a boat in a reflection of the work's title.
Down To The River South is also the title of Zhang's solo exhibition at Studio Gallery, Shanghai in 2019, which included the towering cardboard installation Wen Hengshan Hand Planted Wisteria (2019). The work's title references the centuries-old wisteria that Ming-dynasty painter Wen Zhengming (also known as Wen Hengshan) planted, while its structure evokes the flower in its extension of cardboard pieces into the air.
In an interview with Studio Gallery, Zhang explains that she was drawn to cardboard for its malleability and ability to imitate other materials. Painted in shades of brown, the cardboard in Wen Hengshan Hand Planted Wisteria resembles wood, imbuing the work with an impression of stability and weight that cardboard otherwise lacks.
