Fusion and Difference

By Bai Ming Nu, E-Land Foundation for Arts and Culture Curatorial Office Chief

Gu Zi is trying to find stories in daily life for discovering her own language since graduating from Luxun Academy of Fine Arts in China. Sometimes she finds visual issues that are what she wants in various groups coming and going on the street, comedies, movies, and characters in literature. Also, she sources subject matters from the knowledge and wisdom of all ages and countries in the information age. Gu Zi uses a meticulous technique instead of the traditional coloring method so that she can depict clearer and more visible effects in the painting, even showing artistic modern language and decoration. She explores are forms and discovers the difference between tradition and modern life, fusing the past and the present. Also, she finds sympathy in a variety of experiences and then describes the realization of today’s life through her own art world. She makes us think about what we are looking for, changing, and keeping solidly in tradition as well as modern information through a deeper exploration of what is rapidly changing today.

She emphasizes modern life in her later work series “Rest,” “Shopping,” and “Red,” using a meticulous technique with long and short lines, simple lines, and complicated lines for depicting character features. For example, her recent work “Cell Phone” constructs a detailed design and various gestures that show our daily life well. The title “便面” means “different face.” You can notice that the hidden faces behind the fan have different expressions from the facts. She makes stories through clothing, appearance, and overlapping characters in the same position so they can create a dynamic effect. The most important thing is the facial expression in general portraits; however, Gu Zi’s portraits are focused on gestures or dynamic postures to indicate the meaning.