Translations, 2021-2022

Artist Statement:

“Translations” documents the making of art and of self in the liminal space I occupy as diaspora. In this project, I work with poems written by my father, reinterpreting their contents through personal comprehension of sentiments from an unfamiliar time and space. Through this, I hope to explore the topic of immigrant identity while leaving room for ambiguity, contemplating not only what is lost, but also what is gained in translation.

The contents of many poems go beyond my knowledge and understanding, and I am prompted to fill in these gaps with my own experiences, as well as with imagined histories and truths—a process that I find mimics the experience of growing up first-generation American, where detached and fragmentary comprehensions of generational and cultural past come to inform a present construction of self.

As a recreation of my dad’s art into my own, “Translations” also calls into question my authenticity as an artist, as well as my authenticity related to cultural identity. I think presenting the translations, though not fully coherent or original, as something complete and self-standing is powerful in the journey to validating identity and belonging. So, whether these works are read as being fully translated, in a state of translation, or even as untranslatable, I hope they can show how meaning transforms across the many bridges and barriers people from immigrant backgrounds experience, celebrate those who may feel in a state of translation, and reveal how we are all situated within larger workings of time, space, history, and feeling.

This series has been shown in the University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery Exhibit: One Place to Another and at Hillman Library’s Digital Interactive Wall. The latter was in collaboration with Pitt’s Archives & Special Collections as well as the East Asian Library. It featured University Library System and East Asian Library archive material as well as the poems of multiple local Chinese immigrant writers.

Artist talk and exhibit display at Hillman Library

+++++++
人到中年, 2021

Digital, found family images and textiles
Varied dimensions

"人到中年" explores a poem written about aspirations of Zhang’s father in his youth. Limited family images and textiles, as well as memories, come to inform a detached imagination of family history connected to Zhang's father.

++++++
Missing Home, 2022

Video with narration

Translation of “思乡” (Missing Home). As the artist recites the poem aloud, characters they are unable to read leave gaps in the narration, which are filled by etchings of the characters in an appropriation of traditional calligraphic performances. Memories of writing characters over and over again from learning Chinese as a young kid come up in the video loops, and meaningless repetition of these characters slowly build to take on meaning of the poem at large.

Installation image, One Place to Another

++++++
I Know Where I Want To Be, 2021-2022

Inkjet on washi paper, video, digital photography
Varied dimensions

Translation of “我知道我要去的地方” (I Know Where I Want To Be). Through video and photo documentation from a place local to the artist, this work compiles a visual index of utopic conceptualizations of the motherland. Since nature encompasses so much of the Chinese tradition and of the artist’s father’s writing, small pockets of green space have begun to take on more meaning for them, becoming canvases for cultural imagination, portals to access their father’s thoughts, emotions, and experiences.

Additional information:

Untitled (woven text), 2022
Inkjet on washi paper, 9” x 12”

A character I didn’t know from the poem is woven out of dried grass. The physical handling of material in the weaving process paralleled a metaphorical handling of memory and identity: I found myself moving slowly while weaving the text—as if the character, memories associated with the poem, and my identity would all fall apart if not careful enough.

Palm of My Mother’s Hand, 2022
Video

Here, I trace a character I couldn’t read from the poem onto a leaf, conjuring up memories of when my mom would write out Chinese characters I didn’t know on her palm, and then on mine.

Artist talk and installation images, One Place to Another

++++++
Distance, 2022

Photographic print on paper

Translation of “距离” (Distance). This poem raised questions for the artist about emotional connection alongside physical separation, and how distance and time are never linear.

++++++
Missing Shadow, 2022

Projected photographs and found images

Translation of “怀念影子” (Missing Shadow), where the artist contemplates loss, emptiness, comfort, and dreaming. The incorporation of photographs taken by the artist’s father and by unknown authors raises questions of authenticity, in reference to both the artwork and to identity.

++++++
Sending Off (2), 2021

Mixed media photo sculptures on washi paper, embroidery floss

Translation of “送别（2）” (Sending Off (2)), which references the many departures and farewells that were present in the artist’s father’s life. Held as extensions from the body, found family images are stitched together, hung from and framed by tree branches that were found in an area near the artist.

In an effort to try to understand the contents of the poems better, the artist looked back at old family photos, often making up backstories to them. The lack of context and continuity with these images left them with a fragmented understanding of family and culture that they tried to piece together with other knowledge, their own and not, real or imagined. The family photographs are held in different directions, like a signs pointing to two paths at a fork in the road.

Installation image, One Place to Another

Lucy Zhang

Artist Statement:

+++++++ 人到中年, 2021

++++++Missing Home, 2022

++++++ I Know Where I Want To Be, 2021-2022