Zhang Chaoran, born in Shanghai, is currently a postgraduate student at Chelsea College of Art, University of London.
He has a unique perspective on the relationship between the body and space. He believes that the finite nature of the body limits our interaction with space, but memory can transcend this limitation and merge with space in a four-dimensional way. Because memory is like an ever-growing four-dimensional space, it allows us to recall and experience any slice of time until the death of the physical body creates a complete four-dimensional space. In memory, we are no longer bound by the body, but feel the development of events, changes in the environment and human emotions from a first-person perspective. Memory is therefore a way to transcend the limitations of the body and merge completely with space.
Zhang Chaoran's work explores the possibilities of physical development and the liberation of the body through the application of skin and the shape-shifting of the body. He presents the pain of the body in a unique way and finds balance by observing the constant injury and repair of his own body during his illness. Using a mixture of silicone, paper and other materials to create his works, he invites the viewer to experience this unique and contradictory relationship. This way of making is also his aesthetic way of reconciling with his own body.
Zhang Chaoran's work reconstructs the relationship between body and space, blurring the boundaries between man and space, aiming to liberate the body and soul and bring more possibilities for choice. With the use of body and skin at the core of his work, he explores the fusion of body and space, bringing a new experience to the viewer.
