ZIQI CHENG
Gallery
The world constantly shifts, and nothing remains constant. Some people or things around us fade away with the passage of time, as do our memories of them. You can still remember their distinct appearance after several decades? Is your memory still accurate?
Scars of Memory
Part 1
I left my hometown to study for five years, and the people and things around me have changed dramatically. My grandfather passed away, my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer three times, and everything has changed except for the camphor trees that line the streets of my hometown, which remain as if nothing has changed. I can't recall the exact appearance of the camphor tree, but when I sketched the texture of the tree trunk in my mind, it looked like the scars caused by my grandmother's surgery, and the camphor tree became the support of my recollections and feelings, as well as the agony and scars in my memory.
o1.
I don't remember if I ever looked closely at the trunks of the camphor trees in my hometown, but I was able to draw the direction of the texture of the trunks from the impression left in my mind.
Scars of Memory, Part one: I, 2023, Image transfer and pencil drawing on paper, 297 x 420mm
Scars of Memory, Part one: I, pencil drawing section
o2.
Since I was a child, I liked to look up at the top of the tall camphor tree. The sunlight sprinkled on the leaves at the highest part of the camphor tree, gradually making it impossible for my eyes to see it clearly, and the images in my memory gradually became blurred.
Scars of Memory, Part one: II, 2023, Image transfer and pencil drawing on paper, 297 x 420mm
More details of Scars of Memory, Part one: II
Scars of Memory, Part one: III, pencil drawing section
The shape of the trunk is the easiest to outline compared to more details, but these memories have also been gradually corroded and erased by time.
o3.
Scars of Memory, Part one: III, 2023, Image transfer and pencil drawing on paper, 297 x 420mm
o4.
All memories eventually become inaccurate and can be erased from the mind at any time.
Scars of Memory, Part one: IV, 2023, Image transfer and pencil drawing on paper, 297 x 420mm
More details of Scars of Memory, Part one: IV
o5.
My subjective consciousness distorted and deformed my memories, and I was unable to recollect all the details in their entirety.
Scars of Memory, Part one: V, pencil drawing section
Scars of Memory, Part one: V, 2023, Image transfer and pencil drawing on paper, 297 x 420mm
The scars are gradually spreading all over the trunk, which has lost its natural appearance.
Scars of Memory, Part one: VI, pencil drawing section
o6.
Scars of Memory, Part one: VI, 2023, Image transfer and pencil drawing on paper, 297 x 420mm
o7.
The sunlight poured down on the tree and only a small scar on the trunk could be seen.
Scars of Memory, Part one: VII, 2023, Image transfer and pencil drawing on paper, 297 x 420mm
Scars of Memory, Part one: VII, pencil drawing section
Some vividly remembered scenes are sometimes clearer in the mind's eye.
Scars of Memory, Part one: VIII, pencil drawing section
o8.
Scars of Memory, Part one: VIII, 2023, Image transfer and pencil drawing on paper, 297 x 420mm
The texture of the trunks of the trees in my brush looks like scars and germs, gradually corroding away the original appearance of things.
o9.
Scars of Memory, Part one: IX, pencil drawing section
Scars of Memory, Part one: IX, 2023, Image transfer and pencil drawing on paper, 297 x 420mm
10.
How I wish all the things I want to remember were preserved so clearly in my mind.
Scars of Memory, Part one: X, pencil drawing section
Scars of Memory, Part one: X, 2023, Image transfer and pencil drawing on paper, 297 x 420mm
11.
Scars of Memory, Part one: XI, 2023, Image transfer and pencil drawing on paper, 420 x 297mm
Scars of Memory
Part 2
Some details and visually striking effects are difficult to show in pencil, but I can depict the process of corrosion, erosion, and fading in a "dynamic" form. Utilizing a magnet to attract magnetic powder to modify their layout and disclose distinctive details is a fantastic technique to do so.
Scars of Memory, Part two: I, 2023, Image transfer, magnetic powder and pencil drawing on paper, 297 x 210mm
The tree trunks in my memory are gradually eroding, but the magnetic powder, which the magnet has changed in shape and layout, displays a different beauty. Sometimes the paintbrush can't achieve this kind of delicacy and random variation of magnetic powder.
Scars of Memory, Part two: II, 2023, Image transfer, magnetic powder and pencil drawing on paper, 420 x 297mm
In the gallery
Scars of Memory, 2023, Summer Show at Camberwell College of Arts
The fact that the magnetic powder is only slightly adsorptive and not fixed to the paper, and that it can change at any time due to what's going on around you, is a series of uncertainties that happen to reflect the normality of the world: nothing is static, everything around you changes and changes you, memories can never be that accurate, and one day they'll all fade away.
Scars of Memory, Part two: I, 2023, Image transfer, magnetic powder and pencil drawing on paper, 297 x 210mm
Scars of Memory, 2023, Summer Show at Camberwell College of Arts
Do you remember?
Magnetic powders are an excellent creative tool, and I can change their shape with the help of a magnet. So, do you remember how they used to look?
How do I remember? (experiment), 2023, magnetic powder and pencil drawing on paper, A4
A piece of paper corroded by magnetic powder and traces of pencil drawing gradually loses its original appearance. How many people will remember what it looked like in the beginning?
How do I remember ?, 2023, Video
Magnetic powder's form is constantly changing due to my magnet or a gust of wind, and it can never return to its original initial form, exactly like our life.
How do I remember?, 2023, magnetic powder and pencil drawing on paper, Video
I tried a couple methods and made various changes to the magnetic powder, and they all produced the desired result.
Experiment, 2023, magnetic powder on paper, 15 x 7 cm