Zijing Deng 邓孜婧

The Empowerment Corner

I need a more flexible and open structure, which is the reason that I used a combination of installation and painting. In this case, I could create a de-flattened space.

For the material, I have used transparent paper with a gelatinous surface, which can create the same flowing effect as watercolor. The combination of these two media allows the flow between liquid and natural light to be retained on a transparent flat.

I try to project my feelings on this symbol, on a perceptible symbolic projection. The effect of this symbolization is to offer the beholder a way of conceiving emotion and that is something more elementary than making judgments about it.[ Feeling and Form. New York: Scribner，Langer, Susanne K，1953.] 

Then I use them as the starting point for a stream-of-consciousness narrative, many of which are quite random, irrational, and fragmented, connected only by loose and vague shadows and patterns. Life is a constantly changing picture and our viewpoints as well as our reactions to our viewpoints are important. The “stream of consciousness” approach in the psychological novel conveys this idea. Because our thoughts and vision are continuous, it is possible to apply this changing thought and vision pattern to an actual pattern on paper. Furthermore, I have deliberately avoided giving them a specific narrative structure to retain their specific characteristics

My use of the elements such as abacuses and lotus flowers is based on the symbolic meaning they have. Abacus is a counting tool that has a good omen of wealth in China. I used wire to make the abacus and use real lotus seeds that were painted in red to replace the abacus beads, when I see the abacus as a society, the beads are the people moving around inside, as an individual in the collective. I want to visualize the phenomenon of forcing the individual to form a collective and challenge it.

ps:For the full work in space please visit my website

Anatomy of the lotus

After I took the Lotus apart

I explored the fertility

When I finish reading this zine

I will see the baby

After studying this anatomy

I see the lotus growing out of my body

The air, sunlight and water that I loved

Become taught in my veins

Surrounding me

When I stop thinking

I will feel happy

The Lotus

In traditional Chinese culture, the lotus flower represents fertility, Lianshengguizi (连生贵子), a chinese idiom about lotus, which expresses the idea of continuously giving birth to noble sons. In this case, I think it is also a passion for female groups, which gives a strong expectation of birth.

When women’s role in society is defined mostly in reproductive positions, education makes girls better wives and mothers. This kind of traditional concept is passed down from one generation to the next, it becomes a system, creating a micro-power in the society.