ZHANG FUMING
Artist / Printmaker

An extension of the rice bowl motif regularly incorporated by Fuming into his work, Rice Hill reveals the faint silhouette of a podium atop a hill, with figures in the foreground assuming the classic aspirational pose of a father/child scene that is often portrayed in posters, advertisements etc. While the child's hand gestures are suggestive of advancement or progress, the grimaces on the father's face and his strained body language betray the bitterness of “getting there”, if at all. At the top right corner of the composition, a naively-illustrated sun hangs above jarringly: an all-too-positive symbol that ironically brings to light the difficult reality of fulfilling the expectations of society today.

Rice Hill underscores Fuming's latest fascination with wild flora and landscapes. The print marks the start of a brand new series of work that offers visual representations of organic forms inspired by the juxtaposition of nature with allegorical impressions.