Yujun Zhang

The Echo of Earth is a multi-media visual narrative about the climate emergency. I made unique colored pencil drawings representing the Chinese Five Elements that visually and metaphorically represent the major human-induced environmental problems such as poultry farming, desertification, maritime pollution, global warming and soil erosion. The title alludes to a plea of nature—distant but still carrying the echoes of its original voice. 

Traditional Chinese handscroll painting was my reference for the flow and Western surrealism the source of symbols in my work. To breathe life into the drawings, I used the technique of colored pencil drawing and designed a layout that symbolizes the five elements as guiding mythical or allegorical beings, a layering of meanings. Besides, I used the format of the scroll painting for the last step of my project since the process of making the scroll was like that of "The Qingming Festival" handscroll and I felt that it was an authorial act on my part to be able to make the story something tangible.

My academic context and inspirations were varied. One of my most substantial lead-ins was the book by David Abram called The Spell of the Sensuous, where I got an insight into my own sensory deprivation with the environment that I suffered from. Moreover, I did my own visual arts research in the British Museum and I was captivated by the richness of the symbolic patterns of the objects in their collections. Visual essay was another source that was as rich as my previous ones since it included many earth data and photographs from EarthTime and the UN Climate Visuals Library. The workshop of Riso printing, in addition to the laboratory class, revealed to me how I was able to identify and express my deeper hidden emotions and layers with just two ink colors. I have been really influenced by all the above activities, every single experience has contributed to what I can call a process of creating a “modern fable” through visual storytelling.