Moving from her hometown of Chengdu in southwest China to Los Angeles, Zhong merged fragments of presence and recollection into her abstract paintings. Her works are marinated by colors and light captured in her personal photographs, which led to a series of collages and drawings. The painting itself gains a living pulse; it works to hold onto those deep, intangible feelings and prevent moments in time from slipping away. The final outcomes appear to drift away from their original references, yet remain mysteriously suspended on the canvas.
Zhong often spends hours painting while listening to the minimalist music composed by Philip Glass. The music effectively fills the gap between her imagination and her intention for the work, in turn inspiring the way she utilizes memory in her art. Through the rhythmic ostinato and evolving textures of Glass’s compositions, Zhong finds herself returning to the same photographs and themes to push the repetition to its limit. This investigative process leads directly to what her painting is truly about: embodiment.
Zhong’s work is in the collection of AMOCA in Cardiff, Wales and the New Century Art Foundation (NCAF) in Shanghai, China.
