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Branch in a temple

Yuqing Zhang

Profile picture of Yuqing Zhang

Yuqing Zhang is an artist working with acrylic, watercolour, printmaking, zines, plush toys, and sound. Her current practice explores connections between lichens and sacred patterns across religions. Using acrylic on large polyester fabric, she implies the interweaving between artificiality and nature. Lichen, a composite creature, appears as an unconventional and vague image of a god or the sacred in her work.

Yuqing Zhang is an artist working with acrylic, watercolour, printmaking, zines, plush toys, and ...

Branch in a temple, Arcylic on polyester,281*531cm,©️张钰卿(Yuqing Zhang)2025

I paint a big branch with lichens of various species on a huge fabric. I am interested in the connections between the lichens and the sacred patterns in compare religions.Lichens are algal-fungal composites, not plants, yet they closely resemble them. The lichen on the far right features hole-like structures that resemble caves: at once realistic and elusive. These ambiguous forms suggest sacredness or an unconventional, indeterminate image of divinity.

The form of the branch is inspired by classical Chinese painting, where a single flowering branch often serves as a poetic subject. By enlarging this motif to a monumental scale, the work exceeds traditional visual expectations while retaining the quiet sacredness found in Chinese aesthetics.

The artificiality of pigments and polyester fabric contrasts with the organic imagery, revealing a layered interweaving between nature and artifice—making the meaning of this work even more complex.

Final work

A large painted branch with various lichen shapes, including cave-like forms, stretches across a plain polyester background.

Branch in a temple(front perspective)

Branch in a temple,Arcylic on polyester,281*531cm,©️张钰卿(Yuqing Zhang)2025

I paint a big branch with lichens of various species on a huge fabric.I am interested in the connections bewteen the lichens and the sacred partterns in compare religions.Lichens are algal-fungal composites—not plants—yet they closely resemble them. The lichen on the far right features hole-like structures that resemble caves: at once realistic and elusive. These ambiguous forms suggest sacredness or an unconventional, indeterminate image of divinity.

The form of the branch is inspired by classical Chinese painting, where a single flowering branch often serves as a poetic subject. By enlarging this motif to a monumental scale, the work exceeds traditional visual expectations while retaining the quiet sacredness found in Chinese aesthetics.

The artificiality of pigments and polyester fabric contrasts with the organic imagery, revealing a layered interweaving between nature and artifice—making the meaning of this work even more complex.

A large painted branch with various lichen shapes, including cave-like forms, stretches across a plain fabric background.

Branch in a temple

The painting was bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun

A large painted branch with various lichen shapes, including cave-like forms, stretches across a plain fabric background.

Branch in a temple

Branch in a temple,Arcylic on polyester,281*531cm,©️张钰卿(Yuqing Zhang)2025

I paint a big branch with lichens of various species on a huge fabric.I am interested in the connections bewteen the lichens and the sacred partterns in compare religions.Lichens are algal-fungal composites—not plants—yet they closely resemble them. The lichen on the far right features hole-like structures that resemble caves: at once realistic and elusive. These ambiguous forms suggest sacredness or an unconventional, indeterminate image of divinity.

The form of the branch is inspired by classical Chinese painting, where a single flowering branch often serves as a poetic subject. By enlarging this motif to a monumental scale, the work exceeds traditional visual expectations while retaining the quiet sacredness found in Chinese aesthetics.

The artificiality of pigments and polyester fabric contrasts with the organic imagery, revealing a layered interweaving between nature and artifice—making the meaning of this work even more complex.

A large painted branch with various lichen shapes, including cave-like forms, stretches across a plain fabric background in the exhibition space.

Branch in a temple(in the space)

Branch in a temple,Arcylic on polyester,281*531cm,©️张钰卿(Yuqing Zhang)2025

I paint a big branch with lichens of various species on a huge fabric.I am interested in the connections bewteen the lichens and the sacred partterns in compare religions.Lichens are algal-fungal composites—not plants—yet they closely resemble them. The lichen on the far right features hole-like structures that resemble caves: at once realistic and elusive. These ambiguous forms suggest sacredness or an unconventional, indeterminate image of divinity.

The form of the branch is inspired by classical Chinese painting, where a single flowering branch often serves as a poetic subject. By enlarging this motif to a monumental scale, the work exceeds traditional visual expectations while retaining the quiet sacredness found in Chinese aesthetics.

The artificiality of pigments and polyester fabric contrasts with the organic imagery, revealing a layered interweaving between nature and artifice—making the meaning of this work even more complex.

Research and process

The artist is painting the lichen

Branch in a temple(process)

the painting with the ladder artist using

Branch in a temple(process)

Need use a ladder to paint

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Branch in a temple

Branch in a temple, Arcylic on polyester,281*531cm,©️张钰卿(Yuqing Zhang)2025I paint a big branch with lichens of various species on a huge fabric. I am interested in the connections between the lichens and the sacred patterns in compare religions.</span...

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