McClain Gallery presents Look Into the Future, our first exhibition of Ping Zheng's (b.1989, Zhejiang, China) work. The exhibition will be taking place online, although the works are available for viewing by appointment.
Zheng's oil stick on paper drawings are symbolic and lyrical landscapes, mysterious in their non-specificity. For Zheng, depicting nature brings joyous memories of feeling free in the outdoors. The bright colors are bolstered by the thick and deft application of layers of oil stick, which is sometimes scraped back in small areas to reveal colors previously applied. Her method is very physical and an extension of her energetic process - she creates a variety of rich textures: at times her vivid palette reads velvety soft, while other portions are scraped, ribbed, or striated.
"My inspiration is grounded in childhood memories of natural landscapes, where I felt free as a human in the outdoors, avoiding family pressures as being a girl at home... Art is about how you view the world and I always want to be creative with my artwork and genuine with my paradoxical thoughts, which is about the past and present in my life. I like spending a lot of time on processing and communicating with my artwork. I think this is how the subconscious mind brings me a particular focus on creativity, approaching art as a mean of personal development. My passionate belief in equality, males and females are just part of this universe." - Ping Zheng
Ping Zheng (b. 1989, Zhejiang, China, lives and works in Brooklyn, NY) received an MFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2016 and a BFA in painting from the University College of London, Slade School of Fine Art in 2014. Her works have been exhibited at Microscope Gallery, Brooklyn, Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, the Chinese American Arts Council/Gallery 456, New York, and Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, among other venues. She has completed artist residencies at the Rancho Linda Vista Arts Community in Oracle, Arizona and the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont among others. She is represented in New York by Kristen Lorello.