Wanying Zhang
About
Wanying Zhang is a visual communicator and graphic designer. She received her BA in visual art from Hong Kong Baptist University.
Her artistic practice focuses on typography and narratives of texts and images through various medium including publications, moving image and installations. Her interests lie in memories and traces. Delving into the nature of different materials, she attempts to create sensual and poetic experiences through the hidden messages of substances.
Statement
I like walking.
Walking is a repetitive act of alternating between the left and right foot in a certain direction.
It takes us from point A to point B.
Viewed from a two-dimensional perspective, the traces of walking are formed by curves and straight lines.
The same applies to writing a character. A stroke starts from point A, and ends at point B. The intrigue part of typography lies in exploring the variations from A to B.
Yet many appealing parts would be missed out if the behaviour of walking is considered only as traces on a surface.
After all, walking takes place in space—a shared space with individuals and different species. And our paths intersect, forming a myriad of AB, just like the longitudes and latitudes of the earth.
A–B is a journey from A to B. It is a memory rather than a path.
When looking into a history or a memory of the others, I am squeezing my time and space to a point in A–B. And the point becomes the starting point of my exploration.
The gap between me and that history makes it difficult for me to trace back. However, it gives me the freedom of tracing to either A or B, and allows me to interpret A–B from a wider perspective.
Whale–Man
The story of whaling is not the story of whales, but the chronicle of man and the whale.
In most cases, the story is only human.
I. June, 35 °F(1.6 ℃)
II. Conquering Sea Monsters：from Leviathan to Pagoda Tree
Starting from the Arctic region, involving the story of the Inuit and whales, the whaling exploits of the colonists and the recent wave of anti-whaling, the story of whaling acts as a mirror, reflecting human nature and the connection between human and nature.
Medium: Mixed Media
Leaning
Characters consist of straight lines and curves which placed at certain positions. When put into a world with gravity, strokes lean on each other.
a: Pareidolia of a Curve and An Oval
Three Sequences of Alphabet
Letterpress print on postcards
20 metal blocks: 4n, 4a, 2t, 2p, l, c, 2o, b, 2e and u
For me, a non-native English speaker, English is twenty-six letters placed in various order.
Sunlight in Winter, London
Cyanotype on postcards
Winter in London is the longest and most light-starved days I have ever spent, as I grew up in the tropical area. Sunlight became precious than ever. I recorded the sunshine on 20 Jan, 2023 on a postcard by cyanotype, and sent it to my teacher Heesun who is based in Hong Kong.
