Parallel Country--Zhao Na Solo Exhibition

TEXT:Sue Wang    DATE: 2011.9.19

Poster of Zhao Na Solo Exhibition

Poster of Zhao Na Solo Exhibition

As an emerging promising artist, ZHAO Na got her Master's degree from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2010.  Her debut solo show entitled "Parallel Country" is presented  by Mizuma & One Gallery from September 3 through October 16, 2011. Nine of her most recent pencil drawings will be revealed this time. As a stand-alone venue of artistic expression, pencil drawing has its unique values, as lines are used to convey the artist’s profound sense of form, structure, rhythm, and aesthetic interest.

Competing Soil by Zhao Na, 2011; painting, pencil, colored pencil, paper, 700X2400mm

Competing Soil by Zhao Na, 2011; painting, pencil, colored pencil, paper, 700X2400mm

YUN by Zhao Na, 2010; painting, pencil and paper, 500X400mm

YUN by Zhao Na, 2010; painting, pencil and paper, 500X400mm

Alice in Wonderland by Zhaona, 2011; painting, pencil, colored pencil, paper, 900X1100mm

Alice in Wonderland by Zhaona, 2011; painting, pencil, colored pencil, paper, 900X1100mm

ZHAO Na has been particularly fond of pencils as materials to work with. The delicate lines are so striking that it is probably only with a “most pristine mind” that one can create such rich and yet clean images. With lines of various thickness and various inter-line distance, ZHAO Na manages to create a surreal world with various tones of black and white combined. This world is in parallel with the real one as known to us with all its familiarity, and yet is spiritually independent from the latter one. The eerie and curious images, as she shows us, are simultaneously familiar and strange. As such, ZHAO Na is able to freely transport herself between two different worlds and visualize on paper what is normally invisible to our naked eyes.

Military by Zhao Na, 2010; painting, pencil, paper, 500X600mm

Military by Zhao Na, 2010; painting, pencil, paper, 500X600mm

Competing Soil by Zhao Na, 2011; painting, pencil, colored pencil, paper, 700X2400mm

Competing Soil by Zhao Na, 2011; painting, pencil, colored pencil, paper, 700X2400mm

In God's Hands by Zhao Na, 2011; painting, pencil, colored pencil, paper, 1000X1900mm

In God's Hands by Zhao Na, 2011; painting, pencil, colored pencil, paper, 1000X1900mm

Sweet Temptation by Zhao Na, 2011; painting, pencil, colored pencil, paper

Sweet Temptation by Zhao Na, 2011; painting, pencil, colored pencil, paper

To ZHAO Na, the process of probing the world is also one of her gaining self-cognition. By putting thoughts into drawings, ZHAO Na makes her self-reflection observable, starting and restarting after each moment of self-renewal. This is supposedly the unending source of inspirations for her works.

Date: Sep 3, 2011 - Oct 16, 2011

Opening: Sep 3, 2011, 15:00, Saturday

Venue: Mizuma and One Gallery, Beijing

Artist: Zhao Na

Organizer: Mizuma and One Gallery, Beijing