Hong Chun Zhang: Hair of the Dragon
July 13 – September 22 | 2024
Hong Chun Zhang. Red Dragon, 42 x 94in, Chinese ink and color on Italian fabric with scrolls, 2024
Opening Reception
July 13 | 1-4pm
Artist remarks | 2pm
Light refreshments | Free admission
The Chinese zodiac calendar is on a 12-year rotation, and 2024 is the year of the Dragon. For Hong Chun Zhang (b.1971), the dragon symbolizes life and good fortune in China and Kansas. In China, the dragon is a cultural symbol that represents prosperity and good luck. In rural farming communities, the dragon is depicted as a rain deity that can bring life-giving water for agriculture or deadly floods. The title is a play on words whereby the
best cure for what ails you is to have more of the same.
Hong’s exhibit includes a new body of work in Volland’s gallery, plus a site-specific outdoor project on the foundation’s grounds. In
Hair of the Dragon
, the Lawrence, Kansas artist melds her affinities for environment and Chinese identity.
Hong, the daughter of two artists trained in Chinese fine style ink painting, and educated in the medium herself, builds on the tradition in
Hair of the Dragon . There are two basic styles of Chinese ink painting: fine style and free style. Fine style is a careful and slower making process with realistic details. Free style, however, is a faster and spontaneous technique like calligraphy writing that captures the artist’s ideas and expression. Hong likes the meticulous fine style ink painting, although the process is time consuming. She enjoys its meditative aspect.
Hair of the Dragon's themes are visible the moment you walk into Volland’s gallery. Portraying a tornado, one of Kansas’ most terrifying natural phenomena, Hong reminds how nature can exert total power over us. Born in China and now living in the United States, Hong also shares her unique perspective through the pieces.
Hong also uses the charcoal medium in
Hair of the Dragon, approaching the works much like an ink painting. For example, in
Dragon Stroke, Hong’s dragon serpentines across the paper, overlapping itself, and creating the Chinese symbol for dragon.
Historically, ink painting was a male-dominated medium. Hong’s hair motif showcases how times have changed. Further on this point, just as silk was important to ink painters historically, Hong gives special attention to the fabric that makes her canvas. Since 2020, Hong has worked with Italian company
Alcantara S.p.A
to supply bolts of the company’s synthetic, suede-like fabric. Alcantara’s qualities help Hong arrive at her desired effect.
On Volland’s grounds, Hong mines the dragon form further, imagining it through the lens of local materials.
Measuring 90 feet long,
Prairie Dragon is a playful rendition of the dragon. Hong cites the popular Chinese dragon dance, which traces its roots to the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), as a source of inspiration. Working with hay bales (harvested from Volland’s brome field by Rusty McDiffett) and painted textiles, Hong depicts a dragon exploring the Flint Hills landscape.
Prairie Dragon
, a site-specific installation by Hong Chun Zhang
