Fiona Tang – “Charcoal Gone Wild” – April 5-30, 2017

Through my large scale drawings, my hope is to minimize the distance between humans and animals. I want the viewers to engage with my work emotionally and/or physically and be overwhelmed with a sense of vulnerability and wonder by the sheer size. Through interacting with these animals, the audience is made aware of their existence and I hope to reverse the passive relationship between the viewer and artwork. The subjects are chosen with a strong urge to translate them onto paper and usually reflect what I am experiencing in my personal life at the time of execution. The animals help to represent abstracted forms of battles, struggles, or successes in my life. I retain the raw beauty in their forms, the energy, and the story behind the animal to my fullest capability through research. My subject and I truly become one through the act of drawing and my feelings are translated through the intense gestural mark makings and the use of trompe l’oeil.