Qinnan Zhu
On March 24, 2020, because of the severe epidemic in the United States, my mother bought a 33, 212 yuan of one-way ticket for me. At 12: 50 two days later, I took off from Washington and landed in Seoul in 14 hours and 40 minutes. After waiting at the airport for 20 hours and 25 minutes, I boarded the plane for Shanghai. Finally, I was driven to Xiaoshan Nanyang Meinvba Hotel, the quarantine site, by an armor cash carrier in the early morning of March 29 after three rounds of transfers, initiating my 14-dayquarantine. I took off my protective clothing and diaper, and finally had a bite to eat. In addition to me, there was a person named Jin Ge who delivered meals to me at fixed time points daily and recorded my temperature in the mornings and evenings. I made repetitive things daily and wasn’t allowed to leave that 28-square meter room, making me extremely sensitive to capture the elapse of time, the restriction of space and subtle changes in my physical and mental states. Intimate Relationship: I felt lonely because of such a passive sense of closeness. Meanwhile, I had extremely limited access to materials like the toilet paper I had to use daily, I decided to capture that special moment in an artistic way, I sorted out and recorded daily tedious and repetitive routines on toilet papers amounting to 47 copies in total, and flushed the toilet 44 times. By River: The elastic thread similar to mask, plastic and very few of threads I brought from the United States were made into works with Xiaoshan Lace-based craft, and threw into the undercurrent of Qiantang River near the quarantine site in which I was ever in a daze. The pattern is inspired by the internal physiological cycle of the body. With projecting river on the fiber work, the overlap reflects the interlacing between the inner body and the outer environment. The journey The journal: Finally, I made my 14-day quarantine evidences into a diary as the memorial to that travel.
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About the artist:
Qinnan Zhu is a visual artist who was born in a small town called Xiaoshan in China. She received her BFA in Fiber and Minor in Book Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2020. She is currently working as an intern at the lace factory in her hometown exploring lace patterns and techniques. Rivers combines her language of drawing with textile techniques, including weaving, needle lacing, and crochet, to speak in a way that is both geometric and abstract.She continues to experiments with literature, photography, video and audio recording, digital art, installation, and performance, to explore every possibility of her creativity.
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The journey The journal
2020
Mixed media book
9 x 7 inches
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Intimate Relationship (Excerpt)
2020
Video, on the monitor
Full video duration: 00:16:05
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By River
2020
Used material and fiber installation with projecting video
23.6 x 59 inches
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