Exploring Material Transformation, Cultural Memory, and the Poetics of Impermanence

Yanni Zhang's practice investigates material transformation, fragmentation, and the instability of cultural memory through ceramics, painting, and installation.

Her works often incorporate weathered porcelain fragments, organic materials, and spatial interventions to explore cycles of decay, reconstruction, spirituality, and the localization of belief systems in contemporary society.

Positioned between archaeology and speculative reconstruction, her practice examines how objects carry historical violence, ritual residue, and emotional displacement across time.

Contemporary Artist

YANNIZHANG

‍ ‍Selected Works

2023-2026

Landscape of Impermanence

Porcelain, fire, linen, and chance converge to form landscapes generated through material transformation rather than representation.

2023

Ritual Residue

Installations examining cosmology, death rituals, spiritual transition, and symbolic material systems rooted in historical belief structures.

2021-2023

Transitional Bodies

Through layered paper collages and repeated fan-like forms, the work investigates feminine temporality, memory, and the continuous transformation of selfhood through duration.

2024

Healing Structures

Combining burl wood, reclaimed porcelain fragments, and zipper-like sutures, the work explores healing as a process of material coexistence, where damaged forms are transformed into new structures of vitality.

Landscape of Impermanence

Ceramic paintings and installations exploring material flow, kiln transformation, and the instability of natural form.