Art of healing, healing of art

Zhang Yanzi, Beijing-based artist

Beijing artist Zhang Yanzi does wonders mixing medicine with ink

Susan Sontag once wrote, "Art is not consciousness per se, but rather its antidote -evolved from within consciousness itself."

Beijing-based artist Zhang Yanzi has ideas with a similar effect: "Affliction of the soul needs consolation of the spirit; an antidote is the mountains and rivers, is light clouds and a light breeze."

From March 1 to 5, Zhang's artwork was on display through Hong Kong's Galerie Ora-Ora at VOLTA NY 2017 at Pier 90 in New York.

Zhang was rated one of the five must-see artists at VOLTA NY by the Art Zealous and Hamptons Art Hub websites.

The only Chinese artist at this year's show, Zhang is considered a pioneer in converting the language of ink from the traditional to the contemporary.

She incorporates familiar medical products from the East and West - herbal medicine, gauze, bandages and pills - with Chinese ink and wash painting, exploring how medicine cures the body and art cures the soul.

Born in 1967 in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province in Southeast China, Zhang was exposed to medical paraphernalia like syringes and stethoscopes from an early age - her father was a veterinarian.

"I put the (stethoscope) in my ears and sang into the resonator; you can't imagine, the stereo effect was just like karaoke," Zhang recalled. She even used syringes to inject water into steamed buns.