Visual Arts
Qi Zhang
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
''In July this year I traveled to Orantunga in the Flinders Ranges to take part in a textiles dying workshop. We used combinations of native Australian plant fibres to dye natural materials such as silk and wool. Everyone was required to tag their fabric with a special tag to identify their work from that of others. I used paperclips for my tag. As my works are wearable and the tag represented a part of the process, I decided to fabricate the paperclips in silver and incorporate them into the design of the textile based jewellery I produced. I swapped pieces of silk and wool with other members in the group and decided to use these pieces to create a single piece (no.9), and each strand that was produced from the swapped fabric is tagged with a small piece of silver stamped with the artist's name.' Qi Zhang, 2005
BIO
Qi Zhang is a resident of Heilong Jiang Province in China who came to Australia in 2002 to study a Bachelor of Visual Arts at the South Australian School of Art, UniSA. Having excelled in the course, Qi was chosen to participate in the prestigious Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition in early 2005. Qi is currently studying honours in Visual Art at UniSA, and plans to continue with post graduate study in 2006. Specialising in jewellery, Qi works with a range of materials including textiles, silver, stone, and wood. Her Chinese heritage in conjunction with a high level of artistic skill resulted in her being asked to participate in a public artwork exploring the Chinese and Indigenous Australian history of the West End precinct of Adelaide. The collaborative work, 'Little Growths' will be launched alongside the Adelaide Bank Festival Exhibition 'Writing a Painting' at the new South Australian School of Art Gallery, on March the 1 st 2006.
Qi has exhibited as part of Carclew's Fifth Floor project.
