One Pushes Upward into an Empty City

2019
Ink and gesso on canvas
36 x 48 in | 91.44 x 121.92 cm

Hailed as one of the Four Treasures of the Study, black ink has been revered in Chinese culture for thousands of years as an essential tool for scholars, calligraphers, poets, and painters. Using traditional Chinese ink made from the soot of charred pine tree roots, Chang applied this single element with the aid of hardware tools, including brooms, sponges, pipettes, and sandpaper. The work conjures the tension and breakthrough of weather systems and interior landscapes that speak to Chang’s childhood sense of perspective and tranquility she found in the landscape paintings her father displayed in their home. The title of the work is taken from a passage in the I Ching, or Book of Changes, which has inspired several of Chang’s installations. Believed to be the oldest book in the world, the ancient classic emphasizes the cyclical interconnectedness of the universe and the inevitability of flux in our lives.