ZHANG Yirong

Zhang Yirong currently lives and works in Xi’an. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Experimental Art Department and her Master’s degree from the Oil Painting Department of the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts. Her artistic practice focuses on the symbiotic relationship between natural matter and the environment through the exploration of mixed-media textures.

Flame reveals Zhang’s profound attachment to the land and to elemental nature. Built upon the dense, weighty ground of mixed media on wood, the work endows the motif of “fire” with an almost timeless stillness through mottled textures and subdued, somber tones. The flames depicted are not leaping aggressors, but coexist with the earth in a manner as steady and enduring as rocks and mountains, carrying a warmth that is both gentle and deep.

By blurring the boundary between the transient and the eternal, the work transforms a natural element into a tranquil spiritual landscape, reflecting on the inseparable emotional bond between the individual and the vast environment in which one exists.