10 Questions with Jiaming Zhang

Bold, controlled strokes and colors blend with soft, simple lines to capture the emotional essence of the moment, inviting us to explore the ebb and flow of the natural energies surrounding us and within ourselves. Zhang grew up in China and moved to America to study interior design and architecture. He is an avid observer and constantly draws inspiration from the space and dynamics around him.

With each of his creations, his goal is to capture the narrative of the moment and translate those feelings onto canvas. Based in New York, Zhang received his BFA and M.Arch from Pratt Institute. Since then, he has exhibited in New York, Milan, Venice, Barcelona, London, Shenzhen, and Osaka, among other cities.

www.jiamingzhang.com | @johnny.jmz

ARTIST STATEMENT

"I immersed in space. Then, I reconstruct."

In his latest series, "Space #," Zhang uses simple lines to express his environmental awareness on canvas. Sensual and innately, exposed to the space, each painting carries its own emotional tone and narrative - just like every inch of air, with a unique smell, movement, and mood.

INTERVIEW

You studied interior design and architecture before turning to paint. Please tell us more about your background and what inspired you to approach painting. 

Architecture and painting are closely related. My architecture job is to restore or renovate those buildings in the historical preservation area in Manhattan, New York; whenever I walk into different buildings, I look carefully at every detail. Because these details, environment, time, and historical context, etc., give each space a unique character or the soul of the building. I will use sketches to quickly record some characteristics of the building so that I can remember how I feel in the current space, which is a message that cannot be conveyed by photographs. I had to have these unique feelings formally recorded, which is why I started putting this information on the canvas. 

What do you wish you knew about contemporary art before you got started?

The history classes I took in college talked about the history and development of contemporary art, but to me, I would want to know how people define the boundaries of contemporary art. The boundary looks very vague to me. Art is not about form. It is about expressing your way comfortably. I feel like our era is in the late stage of contemporary art, and there may soon be a brand-new concept leading people into the next art era. I don't know when it will come, but I'm looking forward to it.

Your work seems to be highly gestural. What is the process of creating your work? What aspect of your work do you pay particular attention to?

I'm an observer. I observe everything happening around me and try to capture the atmosphere and mood on canvas. Oftentimes, characters and objects are not too important in my paintings - what I want to translate into canvas is the atmosphere of the scene and the ever-shifting energies among people, space, environment, and nature. This always fascinates me.

Where do you get your inspiration, and how do you choose your sources?

Architectural spaces give me inspiration. It is a feeling that is different in nature. The building itself is a man-made object, but with the development of time, there will be different stories in it, and people will also change the environmental energy inside. Gradually, the space of this artifact also becomes a part of nature. My inspiration comes from the small things that make me feel in these architectural spaces.

Colors are very important for your work; how do you choose and mix them? Do they have any specific meaning or reference for you?

The hardest part of my work is being able to be happy with what ultimately ends up on the canvas. Sometimes, a color change or an errant brush stroke will affect the final outcome. This process can be painful, especially when the error is irreversible. I'm those cases; I start all over again because I owe it to myself to be truthful on canvas. For me, even the ambient feeling in the air has color; I can clearly feel it; I just keep trying, hoping to restore the color I feel in the picture.

Let's talk about your series Space. What messages do you want to convey?

I'm very inspired by how energy moves through space, how it interacts among itself and how we interact with it. An example I like to think of is water - it's colorless, odorless, and shapeless, but it is easy for people to perceive its existence by the nature of it making something wet. A similar can be said for energy - it's colorless, odorless, and shapeless, yet people can feel when something is right or off. And this is because we're generating the energy within our own spaces, breathing life into it with our emotions. This energy is sensual, innately drawn from our own feminine and masculine energies, infinitely balanced and abstract. The colors and movements represent different spatial perceptions. 

In your statement, you mention environmental awareness. How do you express this idea on your canvases? 

It's an instinctive process for me. I'm naturally drawn to and inspired by things or events that are difficult to express in existing language or words. I love the change that comes with perceiving energy because it's quick, direct, and complex. For example, think about when we're at concerts. Through a familiar song, most of the audience can sing together, vibrating at the same frequency and energy levels. The energy is relatively concentrated, simple, and powerful. Contrast this with when we're in a big market, with no deliberate unifying energy and instead a thousand different microtransactions happening and people flowing in different directions, the energy in this space will appear very complicated. It's this type of energy that I like to capture, interpret and put on canvas.

Is there anything else you would like to experiment with? 

I plan to incorporate the technological part of the architectural field into my creation in the future, such as 3D printing, modeling, VR technology and etc. These are very difficult. Because these are often quite figurative, it is difficult to make people understand abstract feelings in a figurative way. I will continue to explore this area. 

You live in New York City, a great place for the art world and art market. What is your relationship with the art market? And how do you promote your work?

New York City has a large number of artists. We communicate and influence each other. I give my works a chance to be seen by more people by holding exhibitions. Some are solo exhibitions, and some are exhibitions through cooperation with Gallery. This year I exhibited my work in San Diego and Dallas. I received a lot of good responses and useful feedback. Also, I met artists and galleries working in this industry all over the place.

Lastly, what are you working on now? Do you have any new projects or exhibitions coming up? 

Now I'm still working on the "Space#" series. From November 30th to December 4th, I will bring my new work as a solo exhibit at Red Dot Miami. This exhibition mainly shows larger works, such as 72 x 50 inches size.