ZHANG Yunyao

Zhang Yunyao has long worked with graphite and pastel on a unique fabric-like medium, felt, as a way to experiment with and expand beyond the traditional idea of drawing, constituting what the artist calls “felt drawings.” 

The textured surface of these “felt drawings” are covered with tiny knots of fabric fiber as a result of the artist’s hands repeatedly applying and rubbing graphite and pigments into the felt—a lengthy, labor-intensive and almost spiritual process that has come to define the core of Zhang’s artistic practice. The result is often an imagery of contrasting colors and so full of texture and depth that the audience almost wants to physically interact with it. 

Zhang Yunyao said: "The process of making felt painting is my response to memory and its waning, which proves the unique temporal nature of painting itself. At a close distance one can tell that the surface is formed by the fine blending and accumulation of graphite and pastel over time. The materiality of the surface texture in a way corresponds to the result of time lapsing, but differs from the complicated and multi-layered process of manually developing photographs in darkroom."

The eighteen “felt drawings” on view in the gallery’s 1,200 square feet space vary in subject matters from the grand narrative with frequent references to western classical sculptures and Greek mythologies to the personal stories touching upon intimate almost fetish themes. However different they may seem, the subject matters are simply Zhang’s objective studies of human bodies, gestures and emotions.