Last time we saw Shanghai-based
artist Hong Yi, aka Red, she was painting a portrait of Asian pop star
Jay Chou with rings of coffee stains. The artist known for her
unconventional painting materials and methods is back with a portrait of
famous Chinese film director Yimou Zhang made of socks. The large-scale
monochromatic sock portrait is held together with pins and propped up
with bamboo sticks. Using 750 pairs of socks, adding shadow and depth
with a black, white, and gray scheme, the artist reproduces the face of
one of her favorite directors over the course of three tireless weeks.
11 more images after the break...
Red attributes the reasons for
her medium of choice (this time around) to the inspiration she found
from a tiny alleyway she came across when she first settled in Shanghai.
There were clotheslines made of bamboo sticks hanging various articles
of clothing above this fairly narrow path. It surprised her to see such a
traditional slice of life in a big and bustling city.
Through her medium inspiration
she found a connection to Zhang, who is known to incorporate bamboo
sticks into his period films (Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Curse of
the Golden Flower) as well as the Beijing 2008 Olympics opening
ceremony. Rather than creating the portrait with t-shirts to echo the
hanging laundry, she opted to use socks because they were smaller and
more cost effective. We're constantly amazed by Red's innovative
expressions and can't wait to see what she has coming up!
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