Ziqi Cheng
Critical Reflection
Regarding the change in creative approach & Reflections on the creation of drawings and photographs & New findings resulting from the accumulation of material experiments
Although my theme is 'memory', this project is essentially an experiment in creative materials.
Regarding the change in creative approach:
My work explores many methods of expressing emotions and feelings and is frequently a private emotional outpouring. My creative work in Unit 2 is still purely personal, with a focus on memories and experiences. My practise has always included a blend of drawing and photography, which is mostly done in black and white. In the Mountain! Mountains! project, I also included photographic elements. This time, however, I've switched from digital drawing to paper. I realised that digital drawing could not replace conventional drawing.
Although computer technology can produce effects that cannot be achieved with traditional drawing materials, digital drawing still does not give me the physical texture I want. The three-dimensional nature of the mountain textures draws me back to my original passion of drawing, and I enjoy experimenting with drawing mediums to get unexpected textural outcomes. As a result, I'm continuously seeking new ways to highlight the mountain textures in my drawings.
On the left of the photo is my usual creative technique, on the right is a doodle on paper while I was working on my Unit2 project. The doodles on paper would make me feel more like drawing and I was determined to go back to drawing on paper.
The Mountain Traces Series by Wang Huachen is a paper-based mixed-media project. He uses creation wax to seal the picture's structure and details before attempting to create the mountain's texture using ink and alcohol. Despite the fact that his brushwork was still visible in the image, the fracturing impact of the ink and alcohol resulted in dots, and the vast blocks of colour took on the roughness of the rock surface. I then started experimenting with different materials, such as paint media and bandages. The mountains are covered in numerous tiny dots, which I wanted to emphasise in my work. I then discovered that magnetic powder and charcoal could be used to achieve the desired effect. I mixed the powder with gum arabic and drew it on the paper, moved a magnet under the paper to change the layout of the powder, and then used charcoal to draw on the surface after the gum arabic had dried to create the effect. Thus, the magnetic powder's delicate texture is included in my work.
Wang Huachen, The Mountain Traces Series, 2023, Mixed media on paper
At the same time, I was thinking about how to change the way I present my work. Every time I finish a drawing, I either set it on a table or hang it on the wall, but since it is only a drawing, I was considering how I might make it look better. The idea for printing came to me at this time. When I first created the etchings last year, I was struck by the ultimate effect of the image: it could be made up of innumerable delicate lines to build a subtle yet atmospheric composition, so I tried to express the texture of the mountain with delicate fine lines. The amount of ink used and the layout of the ink have an effect on the final print. If less and less ink is used, the printed image becomes incomplete and indistinct, which mirrors the concept I intended to portray, 'Fading Memories,' so I thought, Why not print the process of less and less ink on the same sheet of paper, just like a scroll that can show the entire process of change?
However, in my subsequent work, I experimented with magnetic powder drawing and gelatin prints and felt that I could present the process of fading without using the same creative method, so in Scroll of Memories, I combined photography, digital printing, etching, magnetic powder drawing, and gel print, placing them in a row and using the different creative methods to show the differences caused by the passing of memory.
Scroll of Memories, 2023, photograph, etching, magnetic powder, gel print on paper, 297 x 210cm
Reflections on the creation of drawings and photographs:
Black and white contrast is visually appealing to me, and experimental film and black and white photography have had a significant influence on the way I work. In my opinion, the boundaries between photography and drawing are blurred, especially with the partial distortion created by black-and-white photography. As a result, whenever I work, I ask myself, What do black and white add to the effect of the work? How does the artist blur the boundaries between photography and drawing? How does this show up in my work?
Photography and drawing are frequently studied together in photographic studies; photography may be an aid to drawing, and drawing has inspired the style of many photographers. I've been experimenting with fusing drawing and photography, making it unclear whether it's drawing or photography, and some abstract and freehand brushwork photographers have experimented and tried similar things with their work.
The work of American landscape photographer Ansel Adams is fast-paced and hard-hitting, with parameters including the duration of exposure of the negative being changed to establish the final effect of light and shadow. The Clearing Winter Storm is a clean, crisp artwork with a pronounced wide colour block separation, giving it a visual and oriental lyrical aspect. A similar method was used by abstract photographer Brett Weston, who was particularly effective at using permutations in his compositions and the use of huge blocks of colour to create a spatially abstract style, as seen in his 'Japan' series.
Ansel Adams, Clearing Winter Storm, 1937, 16 x 20"
Ansel Adams, Moon and Half Dome, 1960
Brett Weston, Ice On Rock, 1970
Brett Weston, Ships, 1970
There are also photographers whose work is significantly influenced by drawing styles. Alexander Tkachev is skilled at presenting his work through various printing techniques, frequently using palladium printing, gum bichromate over palladium, gum bichromate, cyanotypes, bromoil and lithographic printing to make the figures in his photographs abstract and blurred, resembling pencil drawings, while also seeking details of light and texture, using light and dark contrasts and shadows to create a sense of space. Japanese ukiyo-e art has had a great impact on photographer Sasa Gyoker, who sees photography as a form of light drawing, and as a result, shades of oriental freehand style can be observed in her work: elegant lines and scattered dots.
Alexander Tkachev , Walking Man, 1980
Alexander Tkachev , Dusky evening, 2004, bromoil on Fomabrom 123, Lithographic ink 1803, 8x10"
Alexander Tkachev's work contains strong traces of drawing, yet these are created through bromoil printing.
Alexander Tkachev, Lonely, taken in Ukraine in 2000, printed in 2021, bromoil print on Fomabrom 123paper.
Moving Up to the Floating World: An Interview with Sasa Gyoker, 2008
According to the interview, painting and Japanese ukiyo-e have had a significant influence on Sasa's photography.
Many photographers are influenced by art history, painting and drawing, whether through the contrast between black and white divisions or by altering the presentation of the image through printing to give it an element of painting, with large areas of black or white making the work appear more harsh, clear, and graphic, and this has influenced the way I approach my own work.
New findings resulting from the accumulation of material experiments
During my studies, I noticed many people experimenting with unusual textural effects using various materials, ranging from separating pigments with oil to bandages, rice paper, and gold leaf, so I was thinking about how to create unique textures using diverse materials.
Many creators post the process of experimenting with texture on social media.
Following a series of experiments, I used magnetic powder as the main material and captured the results in the following video. I observed that some of the magnetic powder stayed on the paper and could not be removed when filming the magnetic powder drawing video. The paper seemed to have been drawn on with charcoal, which was an unexpected effect; therefore, I decided to use this method for Unit 3. I meant to stain the paper with magnetic powder and then re-cover it with magnetic powder and draw with charcoal. This was a new effect that I had accidentally discovered after experimenting with various materials, and it provided me with a new perspective.
Once again, I realised that new ways of creating are built up through practise after practise, and I believe and hope that more practise will enrich my work in the next phase of my work.
Some of my attempts at making texture, 2023
References
James Alinder. (1978) Ansel Adams : 50 years of portraits. Carmel [Calif..] : Friends of Photography
Edited by Beaumont Newhall. (1980) Photography, essays & images : illustrated readings in the history of photography. New York : Museum of Modern Art
Beaumont Newhall. (1975) Voyage of the eye: Brett Weston. Millerton, N.Y : Aperture, inc
Edited by Achim Hochdörfer. (2009) Cy Twombly : states of mind : painting, sculpture, photography, drawing. München : Schirmer/Mosel Verlag
Teel Sale, Claudia Betti. (2008) Drawing : a contemporary approach / Teel Sale, Claudia Betti. Belmont, Calif. : Thomson Wadsworth
Katharine Stout. (2014) Contemporary drawing : from the 1960s to now. London : Tate Publishing
Becky Beasley. (2019) Photographer in Focus: John Stezaker. National Portrait Gallery
Moving Up to the Floating World: An Interview with Sasa Gyoker (2008). Available at: https://www.lomography.com/magazine/334923-moving-up-to-the-floating-world-an-interview-with-sarolta-gyoker
Antonio Palmerini. Artist Website: https://www.artlimited.net/18637