Manmade (series of 16), 2022
Cyanotype
9 inch x 12 inch cyanotype artworks in 11 inch x 14 inch frames
With my interest in architecture and landscape, I always believe architecture exists not only to create the physical environment in which people live, but also it is more than just the built environment and it stands as a representation of how we see ourselves, as well as how we see the world. In addition, I always love to touch and to feel the material objects, this gives me a spiritual connection with the object and where the object is situated. From my past series drawing work: Where I’ve been - Tsingtao series, I started working on more and more hand ink drawings on paper about all the places I found interesting. Besides, I’ve been interested in the production of images for a long time and the meaning of photographing things. I feel cyanotype is a really interesting way to show the idea of "folding" from 3D to 2D which is just perfectly matched with the different materiality that can be folded in the space.
In terms of the reasons I started to do this series, since this is my last year of the BFA visual art program I want to try something new and in a fun way to document the place I spent most of my time in the past 4 years which is UBC campus. During the process, I found so much hiding garbage either behind the tree, at the corner of a classroom or inside the grove. I started to organize all the garbage I found and found out that vape pods, cigarette butts and other cigarette related stuff (including cigarette boxes and weed chips in plastic bags) occupied a large percentage. This made me think about the similarity and difference between architecture and cigarette-ish garbage. Both are man made, but one provides shelter for people to keep warm and the other one is harmful to people's bodies.
On top of that, it is so interesting to work with chemicals and because of the sense of not being fully controlled, every result is like a gift to me and it always surprises me. Besides, the results of the finished work have some cracks in the middle of several papers. While I was using the exposure machine with a vacuum button, and when I turned it on the vacuum zoom out the air and due to the thickness of some garbage (mainly vape pods) the paper got torn. This also gives me a feeling of the harmful things that penetrate the paper.
[Image description: Image of two classmates from VISA 401C looking at the cyanotype artwork made by Hazel Zhang on the two facing walls of waste room]
[Image description: Image of a classmate from VISA 401C looking at the cyanotype artwork made by Hazel Zhang on the hall of waste room]
[Image description: Image of four out of sixteen of the series cyanotype artwork made by Hazel Zhang on the hall of waste room]
[Image description: Image of four out of sixteen of the series cyanotype artwork made by Hazel Zhang on the hall of waste room]
[Image description: Image of four out of sixteen of the series cyanotype artwork made by Hazel Zhang on the hall of waste room]
[Image description: Image of four out of sixteen of the series cyanotype artwork made by Hazel Zhang on the hall of waste room]