Mingxuan Zhang (b.1998, China) is a Chinese artist currently lives and works in London and Hong Kong. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from Central Saint Martins, London, UK. She is currently pursuing an MA at the Royal College of Art in London.
Zhang has participated in various exhibitions and art projects, such as the Bainbridge Open 2023, Group exhibition at Southwark Park Galleries and Tate exchange project at Tate Modern.
Zhang's artistic practice revolves around exploring hidden information within layers and opacity. Her works often establish an ambiguous state, leaving the viewer to discern underlying meanings in her images. Through her manipulation of materials such as stockings and fabrics, Zhang creates organic, abstract images that often evoke a sense of intimacy and unio mystica. Her works explore the manifestation of femininity from both Eastern and Western perspectives.
The transition between the real world and the flat world is a recurring theme in Zhang's works. She etches fragile and torn materials onto flat surfaces, creating timeless and invariable images that assert their vulnerabilities. Through her manipulation of layers and opacity, Zhang transforms these materials, giving them new definitions that can be elusive and mysterious.
Zhang believes that the body possesses fluidity. In her works, the body becomes a metaphysical expression, utilizing distortions and absences to examine the power dynamics between the body and the gaze. She conducts a nuanced exploration of the desires and erotic connotations that objects and images may carry, aiming to challenge and reevaluate the repetitive iterations of social definitions.
In my predicament,
breathing heavy, a noisy grind,
not just from my nose and lips,
but my every pore quivers and dips.
Naked, I have shed some skin,
and donned new clothes in turn within.
Still lost within the crevices,
pushing, tearing, walking,
gaining, destroying, observing.
It is not a cage that holds me tight
but fine threads that wrap me in light,
enfolding me in the guise of protection,
yet tugging me towards no direction.
Light seeps through these fine strands,
and burns my eyes with fervent demands.
Silenced, I find myself in a bind,
as some thread traverse, and leave me behind.
