Artist Interview: Zhang Chun Hong

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Jasmine Fernandez: This is Jasmine Fernandez at the National Portrait Gallery. I'm going to ask you to introduce yourself

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Zhang Chun Hong: My name is Hong Chun Zhang, but in Chinese, order would be Zhang Chun Hong.
Jasmine Fernandez: Oh okay.
Zhang Chun Hong: And, um, I was born and raised in China, and came to America in 1996, for my MFA program in California, UC Davis. Now I'm just a full-time artist, made my home in Lawrence, Kansas.

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Jasmine Fernandez: Oh nice okay. Um could you describe your philosophy on art?

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Zhang Chun Hong: My philosophy on art, I really wanted to make artwork that the idea comes from my life experience, my immediate living environment, and I like to focus on the art form, such as composition, scale, line, and space

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Zhang Chun Hong: rather than giving a very narrative aspect of the artwork. So because I believe by making art forms, um, I can let the artwork speak for itself and also can reach to farther audience, even though my work is very time consuming,

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Zhang Chun Hong: but I kind of enjoy the making process, it's very meditative in a sense, it has to do with my life process and similar to my making process. Sometimes when I start working on a big scale drawing, it usually takes about two months, and when I start it, it’s getting very excited.

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Zhang Chun Hong: But was in the-the work goes to a certain point in the middle of making a kind of kind of the board and I have to leave for a while then come back until I find my strength and con-continue finish that, so to me, it's like married meditative. It's also close to everybody's life experience. Sometimes you hate, sometimes you love, but you have to keep going no matter what, so.

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Jasmine Fernandez: Okay, umm, what does Asian American mean to you?

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Zhang Chun Hong: I see myself as a new Chinese living in America. I umm was born - raised in China came here made my home and I feel very comfortable living here. I don't see myself as an American. I see myself as a Chinese woman, artist, living in America, and people have been treated me very nice here, and I quite confident about who I am, and I think my work already speak for-for who I am as a Chinese artist. Of course, you can still see the Asian art aesthetics within in my work but in a very subtle implication. I want my work to have broader audience but also in a universal theme. So when people come to see my work, no matter they knows the asian cultural background or whether they know me or not, they can still get something from my work.

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Jasmine Fernandez: That's nice. Um, we also have what are the classic stories, jokes or songs in your family?

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Zhang Chun Hong: Hmm, that's interesting question, umm because I don't have any problem leaving.

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Zhang Chun Hong: Well, in America as a Chinese-- but I also have a big challenge with my English. (laughs)

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As a second language, so I had made some mistakes in the past but I'm still making mistakes now. So some mistakes become a joke or funny stories like

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the difference pronunciation between snake and snack. I remember when I first time come to America in California. That time, I was dating with my husband and

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there was--I hadn't decided to marry yet but he really wanted me to meet his family. So one time he had to do something away from the family so he left me with his parents and my English was not very good at that time.

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So we were chatting and his parents showed me his pictures when he was young--just try to get to know each other-- and, by the time it was about dinner time I was very hungry but I was pretty polite and I asked my husband's mom, I said:

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'Do you have some snakes I can eat?' She paused for a second and she said 'I know you Chinese can eat everything, but we don't have snakes at home but--'

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I said 'oh, it's something not real dinner but like food you can eat right away or don't feel hungry and she got it immediately she said 'oh are you talking about snacks?' I said yeah. (laughs)

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That's kind of my mistake. Pronounced English in a slightly different way so it turned out becoming a good story.

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And I also have another thing like darkroom and doghouse. One time I was

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Zhang Chun Hong: One time I was in the reception with my classmates, and one of the classmates has to leave and she told me--her name is Janet--she said 'Hong, I have to go otherwise, I will be in doghouse.' I said 'oh.'

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She said, 'Just tell the rest of the people if they ask me "where is Janet" you just repeat what I told you.' I said ok. So five minutes later, my other classmates came over they said 'where is Janet?' and I said 'oh, she went to the dogroom.'

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(both laugh)

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So everybody started laughing, I had no idea. I thought I repeated exactly what she told me but... funny how you switched a certain words and become something funny.

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Jasmine Fernandez: Well I have to say you speak English very well.
Zhang Chun Hong: Oh, thank you. I hope I didn't make mistake during this conversation.

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Jasmine Fernandez: No, um, I actually admire you for that because I cannot speak any other languages, so.

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Umm, I had a question though after looking at your art which I thought was absolutely beautiful. Have you always worked with charcoal or was there any other you know um...

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Zhang Chun Hong: Medium?
Jasmine Fernandez: Mh-hm.

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I have worked with the oil pens,
Jasmine Fernandez: Oh okay.
Zhang Chun Hong: and charcoals and also ink painting. Ink painting is my first major

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when I went to school in Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, that's what I trained as an ink painting medium. But after I came to America I found the charcoal

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was appropriate to this large scale drawings--it can get the darkness and the visual gravity and the visual sense of seeing the work in a very monumental way.

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So charcoal really can achieve that rather than ink painting--ink, you can get something very like watercolor-based more transparent, light-weighted

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Zhang Chun Hong: in terms of visual form. But it cannot get as heavy darkness as charcoal can achieve.

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Jasmine Fernandez: Okay. How long have you been doing art?

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Zhang Chun Hong: Ooh. I started professional training when I was 15. I grew up in an artistic family, both my parents and my two sisters are artists. So, I think the art is just root from my family environment but first 15 years--when I was 15 I started professional training.

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I went to the boarding school which attached high school to the Academy. So you can do the math: 15, I'm just turn 40 so 35--oh no, 25.

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(both laugh)

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Jasmine Fernandez: Wow, so what's the message you want your audience to take? Most of all, like when they look at your art. What is the message that you want them to...

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Zhang Chun Hong: I don't want to guide them to what I wanted, I don't want to talk about too much on--about my work. I want the audience to find their own passage or reading information by looking at my work for the first time.

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I want to give them 'wow' impression rather than introduce too much about my background or everything.

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Jasmine Fernandez: Okay. Thank you.
Zhang Chun Hong: Thanks