Long Hair

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I have been working with hair imagery since 2002. "Twin Spirits" is my first hair themed drawing in this series. They are self-portraits of my twin sister and me. We have both had long hair since high school and long hair has become our main identifying feature.  I use the disembodied image of long, straight, black hair as a reference to our identity.  These drawings are presented as scroll paintings to accentuate the length and the flow of long hair. The ceiling to floor scale creates an imposing three-dimensional effect.  Although these drawings are done with charcoal medium, they are related to the aesthetics of traditional Chinese ink painting.

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The triptych "Three Graces" presents symbolic portraits of the three Zhang sisters, all artists, reflecting our connections as individuals and as siblings. The larger center piece depicts nurturing older sister Ling, flanked by Hong on the right and her left-handed identical twin Bo on the left.

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"Life Strands" is a shift from personal to more universal. The long braid represents a woman’s life cycle from the untangled radiance of youth, through the twist/turn of midlife, to the frail grey hair coming with age.

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The recent black and white charcoal drawings are filled with dynamic energy and flow. In these large scrolls, I combine long hair with my living environment in Kansas to capture the beauty of nature such as the iconic tornado, prairie grass, Flint-hill as well as the pacific ocean waves and waterfalls.