Autumn Equinox《療癒系列 - 秋分》

2023

Oil and acrylic on canvas (6 pieces in total)

35.56 x 27.94 cm (14 x 11 inches) each

Autumn Equinox is a series of small paintings created by Zhang during her residency at the NARS Foundation in 2023. This series responds to her previous work, Grain in Ear, which embodies one of Zhang’s artistic journeys during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in Beijing in 2022.

Continuing the therapeutic aspect of her art practice, Zhang found that while the world, much like New York City, can be chaotic and overwhelming, it also holds moments of peace and calmness. Autumn Equinox expresses the healing experiences Zhang seeks in relation to six different locations in New York. Zhang utilizes a technique where she collects first-hand images from her research, forms them into collages as initial sketches, and uses acrylic paint to create the base layer. On top of this, she applies layers of oil paint to create a meditative brushstroke texture, repeating this process to form different tones and build her visual language. 

Both Grain in Ear and Autumn Equinox are named after the twenty-four periods in the traditional Chinese solar system, indicating when these works were made. Each piece also has a numbered title documenting the location and date. In 2024, Zhang expands Autumn Equinox into an installation composed of six painted scrolls named Healing Park.