Yu Zhang

“I perceive my work as a ‘bridge’, between art and real life, leading people to know what exists on the unfamiliar side. And at the same time, my work is my attitude – taking life both seriously and light-hearted.”

Yu Zhang is a jewellery artist who is studying the contemporary craft skills and the knowledge of contemporary art at Birmingham City University. As she is always interested in dredging up little-known facts and issues, these issues become the inspirations of her work. Through her work she has investigated topics such as fear of marriage, sex culture and gender issues. Not to advertise them as serious social problems, but to let people realize these issues are just a very ordinary part of their life and to raise the acceptance of society is the intention behind her works.

Her current project is the topic of transgender. She considers it as an important social issue which is special and needs understanding, but it is rarely known by the public. She investigates and extracts key elements, seeks a proper analogy and presents it in a convincing way from her works. For her current project, she chooses “plug” as the analogic element and utilizes metal and plaster as materials to create a collection that contains wearable jewellery and non-wearable objects. She keeps the original off-white colour of plaster and creates simple forms to highlight her concept.

View Yu's website