Jinge Zhao

www.jingezhao.org

'My paintings interpret and represent the relationship I have with my grandma. I've been interested in focusing exclusively on my grandma as a subject, and what this can reveal about cultural differences and the translation of intimate sentiments through art.

The style of my painting deliberately points to an overtly sweetened childish tone,attempting to capture the childhood view from when I shared my life with her as a thirteen year old. The colour palette is muted and harmonised and I use light to create a dreamlike,romantic atmosphere, suggesting the re-imagining of memories over time.

The interior scenes that I draw her into,are imagined and remembered, and I cast them in paint as a way to reconnect and remember my childhood in China.Each scene is from a room in my grandma’s apartment, which is heightened with loss and emotion the more times I paint it. I am interested in the ancient Chinese notion of art as a pure form, without pressures of commerce and I see my commitment to painting my grandma as a way of exploring this.The paintings stand for the strength of family ties that are eroded in modern society.'

 

Short listed for ‘Griffin Art Prize 2014’ in November 2014.

 

BORN

1991 China

EDUCATION

BA (Hons) Fine Art – Coventry University, Coventry, 2014

(Last updated 28.03.2016)

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