52x73inches
Fabric(cotton), beads, and threads.
“Tangible” and “intangible” are essential
components that shape our perception of objectivity and subjectivity, as well as our understanding of the inner spiritual world and the outer one. The appearance of a shape triggers a diverse range of definitions and is influenced by people’s subjective judgment, creating an objective confirmation of its existence. However, when this definition is changed or revised, its definition and associated proof become precarious. I love everything that flows and changes its environment. Because people exist in an ever-changing environment, Within this ambiguity, we find ourselves yearning to define, redefine and search for our self-understanding. And we constantly create.
Moreover, the observation and definition of intangible phenomena require us to connect the unknown to the known. We use aquatic plants to understand the water flow and the fluttering of leaves to observe the wind. Through this process, we make the intangible tangible, as it becomes embodied in the known. As artists, we use our chosen medium to help the viewer glimpse into the unknown, to allow the viewer to observe the artist’s inner spiritual world, a place that has yet to be defined. Even if only briefly understood for a moment, this intangible, which some call emotion and others call art process, will exist objectively.
For me, water and wind are elements of particular fascination, as they are ever-changing, imbuing the environment with a sense of randomness and unpredictability. Also, I like the hidden rules behind randomness. These qualities have always influenced my work, as I use the dance of silk threads trapped on the fabric to explore the tangible and intangible. By sewing the window shape onto a light, semi-transparent fabric, I offer a symbol for contemplation of the internal and external worlds, to explore this ambiguous boundary.
In this piece, the absorbent properties of the fabric material brought on by the static have the same effect as the tension of the water on the walls in the bathroom. Combined with my design, these unframed lines are shaped and finished on the walls of my studio and then used to move and install on the walls of the critique room, these floating lines constantly change the form, like the hairs on the bathroom tiles, changing shape with my hand each time I rub them to the side.
People with different acknowledge emotions can see different things in these lines, and I’m happy with the controlled randomness of the pro- cess; I want them to actually appear to form windows (which is true), but not to make them too specific, like windows, but then I don’t expect people to see the same windows I see and hope that the random uncertainty of these lines gives viewers from different backgrounds a lot of different I hope that the random uncertainty of these lines brings a lot of different emotions and understandings to viewers from different backgrounds, maybe it’s its fragmentation, maybe it’s its sense of atmosphere, or maybe it’s nothing like I see different shapes through the hairs on the tiles. And when we walk out of the critique room, these emotions become blurred.
Item is located in Troy, MI. Local pickup available. Domestic shipping is available for an additional fee. Contact aweisbrod@cranbrook.edu for a custom shipping quote. Shipping available via professional art shipper. Contact aweisbrod@cranbrook.edu for a custom shipping quote.
Jiayi Tang (b. 1996, Heilongjiang, China) is a multimedia artist from Guangzhou, China, currently living in Detroit, USA. Her works of art are across various forms and mediums such as installation, ceramic, book design, and photography that explore the connection between childhood, culture, and memory. Jiayi achieved her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of Art Institute of Chicago in 2018. Jiayi is particularly interested in transparent material and personal experience and observation in cultural activities, to explore the influence of diverse mediums on communication with experimental visual language. Upon graduation, Mrs. Jiayi worked with the independent typography designer and book artist Zhu Yingchun as an intern in Nanjing, China. During this period, Jiayi reorganized and redesigned Mr. Zhu’s Insect Font, which is now included in the Fangsuo Font Library. She also worked as a senior graphic designer in Shanghai, China, and later defined herself as a visual artist rather than a commercial designer. In pursuit of her own creation identity, Jiayi is currently continuing her practice in art in the Graduate Graphic Design (2D) department under the tutelage of Elliott Earls at Cranbrook Academy of Art.
