MASK SERIES - 1994-2003

My work of Mask Series reflects the contradiction between outer human appearance and inner substance, between desire for love and misunderstanding in everyday life. As we well know, we all wear many different Masks to face other people in Society, the World, even ourselves. Such contradictions have always existed within us, from remote antiquity to modern times. I often use the symbols of female bodies, green apples, leaves, insects, animals, etc. Those symbols represent the meaning of life, the purity of soul, the mystery of nature, the temptation of fiend and the beauty of dream. In my work, I focus on the identity of gender as well as the ambiguity of gender roles in today's society. I combine a variety of contradictory sexual identities within the nuances of my works. This mixture is between physical and psychological appearance, along with cryptic nuance issues of sexual identity between male and female. This is framed around individual characters in both Chinese and American cultural themes.

I do not propose any resolution to the problems in my work. I prefer to present the actual symbols of struggle, contradiction and ambiguous emotional issues, and allow the viewers to choose their own solutions. Conceptually, the principal focus of my work is the conflict between human instinct and lofty ideals, between fantasy and reality. Issues of spiritual transformation and personal experience are my constant themes.

Ling Y Zhang