Self-Portrait--Zhang+Jie


 * //Self-Portrait//--Zhang Jie**



Title: //Self-Portrait//

Artist: Zhang Jie Date: 2006 Country of Origin: China Medium: Oil on Canvas

Zhang Jie is a young Chinese artist, whose work is exclusively self-portraits. Zhang creates emotional and expressive self-portraits in oil, which is her preferred medium. These self-portraits, rich in blues and purples, focus on her face and body. The background is almost exclusively flat fields of color, in which Zhang Jie is usually the only subject in the painting. On some occasions, Zhang Jie is shown holding a flower in her hands. In most of her work, Zhang Jie shows herself clothed, but she may also appear in the nude at times.
 * __Introduction__**

In Zhang Jie's Artist Statement she expresses that, "figures which are true to life tell much more than a thousand words, although in fact they can’t say a word" (Zhang).

Jie's Artist Statement she also expresses that, "I’d like to leave some things for my viewers’ imagination. The figures in my paintings have external expressions, but there is also a mysterious undertone to them. I’d like to leave some things for my viewers’ imagination" (Zhang).

Zhang Jie

The weight of a young female rests on top of her hands, entwined in each other, which are pressed against her chin and cheek. Two weighted elbows rest upon a seemingly hard, flat, and slightly reflective surface consisting of baby blue tones. The surface makes up approximately one-third of the bottom of the composition. The top two-thirds of the composition show the female form consisting of a head, shoulders, chest, and arms. The contrast between the lighter valued female and the deep, flat purple background pushes the subject towards the viewer. The female's hair is thick, black and wavy, with occasional dull blue highlights. Zhang Jie also leaves a select few sections of canvas untouched to allow the canvas to show through. Her skin is mostly cool tones of blues and purples, with occasional flesh colored accents. Spaghetti straps are also barely visible, indicating that she is clothed. Her lips and fingernails consist of the same color. Her lips and fingernails happen to be, the brightest, warmest colors in the entire painting; however, most of her fingernails are not visible. Her full, closed lips stand out. Her nose is petite and contrasts with her full lips, and especially with her overly exaggerated large eyes. Her dark, droopy eyes are painted with flat black color, and are also outlined in flat jet black. Her eyebrows similarly consist of two small lines of flat jet black.
 * __Descriptive Analysis__**

While her paintings contain modeling with color there is also a focus on line. The focus on line is illustrated by the dark black lines around her figure and eyes, and the lines that make up her eyebrows.

__**Formal and Contextual Analysis**__ Zhang's S//elf-Portrait// is only one of many self-portrait paintings that have been well-recognized in China, as well as internationally. Zhang's interest in self-portraits emerged from her desire to be true to herself. Each self-portrait reflects self-exploration and expresses sadness, isolation, and longing. As a young Chinese woman, Zhang feels confusion about humanity and her identity in contemporary society. She describes herself and the "subjects" in her paintings as, "blue, sensitive, timid, narcissistic, skeptical and lonely, but full of desire". Zhang Jie's //Self-Portrait// is cropped to focus entirely on herself in an "empty" environment, and is able to heighten the emotion in her painting by purposefully omitting anything external. The figure is looking sideways and is not directly confronting the viewer, yet the large scale and composition demand that the viewer look closely. The strong voyeuristic traits that Zhang's paintings elicit reflect the scrutiny and objectivity that women endure. Her overly exaggerated large eyes invite the viewer in, but are disappointingly dull because of the flat dark color and jet black outline that Zhang paints them with. The lifeless dark colors of her hair and clothes further weigh her down, both figuratively and metaphorically. Her full lips stand out because of their bright, warm color. This is significant because her "voice" is not lost in a sea of muted color. Her eyes, which are not realistically painted with detail and value, convey sadness and strife. Her posture is defeated, yet posed, exposing her vulnerability. She is completely alone.

//Self-Portrait//--Zhang Jie

Zhang, as a female artist depicting her body, is rather revolutionary. She is a revolutionary beacuse she depicts her body from a women's point of view. In order to understand the revolutionary nature of Zhang's art one must first understand the history of China, and the culture that she comes from.

Like Western Art, much of the Art of China depicts women from a man's point of view, which are objects of pleasure.

There is limited history of women in Chinese art, and in even less of the pieces containing women, are the women nude. The first examples of depictions of women date back to the Neolithic societies and consist of clay 'Venus' figures. These 'Venus' figures are images of the earth or fertility goddess Hu Tu (Forward). During the Tang Dynasty, "the occasional Indian-influenced sensuous stone bodhisattva might appear. . . but it was never naked like some Indian counterparts" (Forward). The largest collection of female nudes are erotic paintings and other works from the Ming dynasty. These paintings are rarely exhibited, and even today few artists are aware of them (Forward).

Chinese artists are influenced by the cultural traditions of China. Roy Forward, in his article "Reclaiming their Bodies: Contemporary Chinese Women Artists," writes, "Chinese artists are also heirs to long traditions of Confucianism, which subordinated women to men and confined them to their domestic roles as daughters, wives and mothers" (Forward). Chinese artists have lived under a repressive Communist regime which suppresses anything to do with sex, because sex is seen as distraction from Communist Party ideals. During the Cultural Revolution life drawings by Michelangelo were banned because they were considered pornographic.

Chinese Artists inherited the same artistic traditions of the Western Art, the tradition of depicting women as "a passive and available sex object for heterosexual men" (Forward). According to Forward, "Chinese artists (including women such as Pan Yuliang, 1895–1977 ) inherited that tradition when they saw reproductions or went overseas to study, they perpetuated it in much of their work in the first half of the twentieth century" (Forward).

Zhang's work is downright revolutionary. It is an honest exploration of Zhang's identity, and womanhood. It is an honest self-examination, designed foremost for her own enlightenment, where she is in control, and not a passive object of another human's power.


 * __Personal Interpretations__**

The rich blues and purples of Zhang's work was what initially attracted me to her work. My interest was held by Zhang's emotional self-examination, the examination of her body and how it relates to her identity as a women.

Throughout much of Art History, in both the western tradition and China, women have been depicted by men. Throughout history they have been seen as objects for men's viewing pleasure. I find Zhang's work interesting because its only focuses on how Zhang sees herself and her body. While beautiful, its power lies in the fact that it is a women just being herself, and not "making herself up" for the benefit of others, especially men.

__**Note**__ For another example of a Self Portrait by a female Chinese Artist, refer to the teachartwiki article on **//Self-Portrait--Pan Yuliang//**.

__**References**__

//__On-line Sources__//

Foward, Roy. "Reclaiming their Bodies: Contemporary Chinese Women Artists." __ShanghART Gallery__. 2006. [|http://www.shanghartgallery.com/galleryarchive/texts/id/433] --//Article analyzing the cultural influences that female artists working in China currently experience. Also includes brief introductions to a couple dozen artists.//

Zhang Jie. "Artist Statement". [] --//Zhang's Artist Statement on her homepage. Links too her// portfolio are also found on this page.

"Zhang Jie". [] --//Brief Article a// nalyzing Zhang's artwork found on this page.

**Art Lesson# 1****Title: Learning About Self****Grade Level: High School****Time: Nine Class Periods** **Standards and Benchmarks:** ART.I.VA .HS.4 Be involved in the process and presentation of a final product or exhibit. (Lesson 4) ART.II.VA.HS.1 Apply materials, techniques, and processes with sufficient skill, confidence, and sensitivity that personal intentions are carried out in artworks.(Lesson 4)ART.II.VA.HS.3 Describe the origins of specific images and ideas and explain why they are of value in their artwork and in the work of others. (Lesson 2 & 3)ART.III.VA.HS.2 Identify intentions of artists, explore the implications of various purposes, and justify analyses of purposes in particular works. (Lesson 2 & 3) ART.III.VA.HS.5 Reflect and analyze the personal experiences that influence the development of personal artwork. (Lesson 4) ART.IV .VA.HS. 1 Reflect on how the subjects, ideas, and symbols of artworks differ visually, spatially, temporally, and functionally with respect to history and culture. (Lesson 2 & 3) ART.IV .VA.HS. 2 Describe the functions and explore the meaning of specific art objects within varied cultures, times, and places. (Lesson 2 & 3) ART.IV .VA.HS. 3 Analyze relationships of works of art to one another in terms of history, aesthetics, and culture, justifying conclusions made in the analysis and using conclusions to inform personal artwork. (Lesson 2, 3, & 4)
 * Central Art Lesson**

//Self-Portrait-// Definition: a portrait of oneself done by oneself. Zhang Jie’s //Self-Portrait// and many other self-portraits throughout the past and present show traits of one’s personality and feelings. Students will describe, identify, discuss, analyze, compare, criticize, design, and interpret self-portraits.
 * Concepts:**

//Gender-// Definition: an individual’s perception of male or female. Discuss how women are depicted in paintings from the Renaissance era to today. Discuss what type of attitudes are associated with women shown in paintings, such as Zhang Jie’s //Self-Portrait// and other self-portraits. Students will describe, identify, discuss, analyze, and compare how gender is depicted in artworks of the past and the present.

**Lesson Activities**


 * Day 1**

//KWL-// **High School** **Twenty Minutes (Day 1)** Begin the discussion about self-portraits. __Step One:__

__Step Two:__ __Step Three:__ __Step Four:__
 * Show the students how to create a KWL
 * The students will fill out their KWL, while the teacher fills out a KWL on an overhead projector.
 * Have a class discussion (brainstorming) about what the students //know// about self-portraits.
 * What elements are found in self-portraits?
 * Example- nose, mouth, eyes, objects, settings, etc.
 * What self-portraits have you seen?
 * What does a self-portrait tell you about the person?
 * Have a class discussion (brainstorming) about what the students //want to know// about self-portraits.
 * At the end of the exercise we will go back to the KLW and fill out as a class //what they have learned.//

//Self-Portraits Everywhere-// After the KWL, the students will be shown and compare four self-portraits done by popular artists of today and yesterday. The five paintings will be displayed on a PowerPoint presentation with the artist’s name, date, and nationality. For each of the paintings, these questions will be asked: The four paintings that will be shown are: Van Gogh //Self-portrait// 1887 Netherlands Rembrandt //Self Portrait with Two Circle// 1665 Dutch Raharuhi Rukupo //Self-Portrait in the House Te Hau-ki-Turanga// Maori New Zealand Frida Kahlo //The Broken Column// 1944 Mexican Zhang Jie //Self-portrait// 2006 Chinese
 * High School**
 * Thirty Minutes (Day 1)**
 * What do you see?
 * What type of colors, physical characteristics, gender, style, objects, culture, time period, feelings, emotions, etc.?
 * Why does the artists choose to include/depict these elements?
 * How does the painting, personally make you feel?
 * How is this painting different from the other paintings we looked at?


 * Day 2**

//More and More Self-Portraits (Student Presentation)-// __Step One:__ Each student will do research using technology and books to choose a self-portrait of a popular artist from the past or present. __Step Two:__ Students will be required to answers questions about the self-portrait that they choose. __Step Three:__ Have the students display the artwork and artist on a PowerPoint presentation. Have the students discuss the questions they have answered in front of the class. · 5-minute presentation Assessment: **Day 3-9** //Student Self-Portrait-// **High School** **Six class periods (Day 3-8)** Students will have six class days to create their self-portrait. On the sixth class day there will be a critique. The students will discuss the choices they made in their own work and comment on their classmates’ work. Have the students create their own self-portraits. Before students begin, they will brainstorm ideas about what will consist in their piece. Oil paint, acrylic paint, colored pencil, or oil pastel ==== Students will have five class days to create their self-portrait. On the sixth class day there will be a critique. The students will discuss the choices they made in their own work and comment on their classmates’ work. ====
 * High School**
 * One class period** - students will be given a week to do research **(Day 2)**
 * Who created this self-portrait?
 * Year it was created
 * Medium
 * Where was it created?
 * What was depicted in the self-portrait?
 * How does the artist portray the image of gender?
 * What do you think the artist is trying to say?
 * Artist researched, artwork, year created, medium, and location || /5 ||
 * Described and analyzed elements of the self-portrait || /10 ||
 * Described and analyzed gender in the image || /10 ||
 * Discussed what the student believed the artist is trying to say || /10 ||
 * **Total:** || **/35** ||
 * What elements will you include to display your personality?
 * How will you portray the image of gender?
 * What medium?
 * What style of painting?
 * Pointillism
 * Impressionism
 * Expressionism
 * True to life
 * Combination of styles
 * ETC.
 * What color pallet will you use?
 * Primary
 * Secondary
 * Tertiary
 * Warm colors
 * Cool colors
 * ==== Own combination ====

Assessment:
At the end of the critique we will discuss what the students have learned and finish filling out the KWL. Lastly, I will require students to post, on a blog created for the class what they have learned about self-portraits and gender. The blog will also be used as an assessment to see what the students have learned.
 * Composition || /10 ||
 * Used elements to display personality || /15 ||
 * Portrayed the issue of gender || /15 ||
 * **Total:** || **/40** ||

Assessment:


 * Two statements on what the student learned about //self-portraits// on the blog || **/2** ||
 * Two statements on what the student learned about //gender// on the blog || **/2** ||
 * One comment on another students entry || **/1** ||
 * **Total:** || **/5** ||

Van Gogh, //Self-portrait// image: ibiblio.org Rembrandt, //Self Portrait with Two Circle// image: rembrandt-kids.com
 * References: **

Raharuhi Rukupo, //Self-Portrait in the House Te Hau-ki-Turanga// image:

collections.tepapa.govt.nz

Frida Kahlo, //The Broken Column// image:

marxist.com