What Left?

WHAT LEFT?

Charcoal Drawing + Painting

Timeline

May 2019

Collaborators

Individual Project

Jinjun Zhang (Advisor)

Role

Charcoal Drawing

Painting

Tools

Charcoal Pencils

Watercolor Paint

Acrylic Paint

Paperboards

This project explores themes of life, death, and the interaction between nature and humanity. The initial charcoal drawing features a hybrid creature made from the bones of a wolf and a flamingo, symbolizing the transformation of life into indistinguishable remnants over time.
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Expanding on this concept, the mixed media painting examines the conflict between creatures and human impact. By incorporating geometric elements and creating a partially 3D structure, the artwork highlights the struggle of animals against metaphorical cages, emphasizing the ongoing threat of extinction driven by human desires.

Charcoal Drawing

I chose a wolf and a flamingo for my dissection and observation, reassembling their bone structures to create a six-foot creature with the heads of both a flamingo and a wolf.

This combination represents my understanding of nature and the ecological system’s metabolism. Regardless of the species, all animals transform into biomass after death. Their bones, once crucial for identification, gradually become more indistinguishable over time.

Mixed Media Painting

Inspired by my initial drawing, I continued exploring the interaction between creatures, humans, and nature. I extracted geometric shapes and colors from the previous drawing, focusing on the most striking color contrasts. By rendering the bones and structures in a partially 3D form, I was able to add more detail. This created a visual effect of an animal seemingly struggling against an invisible cage, symbolizing the threat of extinction driven by human desires.