My photo-based practice stems from personal experience, which I have moved or transferred among many different types of places since my childhood. Those sudden changes of places prompted me to create a desired dreamy living space in photographs. I question the truth of reality, and then transcends among the memory and overwhelmed image world. So finally I grow up with photos and I have become parts of images where I found my belongings and identity.
In this project, Wallpapers#2. I am investigating how a foreign Chinese person creates a balanced space of both identity and a sense of belonging in photographs when they live in The U.S. with an American dominated image culture. Spectators will follow the path of a foreign Chinese who initially came to The States for higher education, lost somewhere between in the American photo world and their self-isolated living space, and then create their cross-cultural space and desire for immigration in Photography and "re-invent" the Photography technique for their identity. My process included installation practice, "Chinese" materials such as traditional watercolor black ink and traditional rice paper, photo developer chemicals, darkroom photo paper, the U.S. letter-size golden paper, darkroom filter, and etc.
Jiawei Zhao 赵嘉玮 is a Chinese-born photo-based artist living and working in between New York City and China. Zhao recently participated in the artist-in-residence at MASS MoCA and received his MFA Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute. His work has been exhibited at many museums and galleries including the Masur Museum of Art and the Academy Art Museum. Zhao and his work have been interviewed and featured by Forbes in 2020.
