September 12, 2023 - March 24, 2024

“As an artist working in painting and digital installations, my exaltation is to express my history as an Asian woman born in China and living in the United States. I see my identity as situational. My racial group shapes me while I exist within others and is constantly modified by the shared spatial relations I encounter.”  Ziui Chen Vance

Philadelphia artist Ziui Chen Vance describes her paintings as “portrayals of girls that are a reflection of my life as a young woman growing up in rural Western China.” Her paintings feature schoolgirls, some depict the entire figure and others, focus on “folding limbs that hover between figuration, abstraction, and narration.” The young women typically wear skirts, knee-high socks, and flat black slip-on shoes. The vibrant color palettes are consistent as are the stylized, illustrative-like repetition of imagery. Painted from the artist’s memory, Ziui Chen Vance says, they represent “a wellspring of hope for me.”

Up, Up, and Away, conceived specifically for the airport, “celebrates a shared sense of greeting, whether coming or going. It is a festive, spirited feeling of togetherness expressed as the commotion I find familiar when people are waiting, meeting, and saying “hello.” This painting is about the excitement of being reunited, the safe space that they all share, and the exhilaration of jumping in unison, as one.

Visit www.ziuichen.com

Photo credit: Gladney Hall

Commissioned by the Center for Emerging Visual Artist (CFEVA) - Philadelphia