Sieving Through Shame and Slowness
with Xia Zhang /
August 2022
About the Studio Session
Who are we in relation to what we make? When do we shape an object, when does it shape us, and how do external and embodied experiences make their mark? In this Studio Session, we will sieve through the minutia of our day-to-day and take pause to notice tendrils of shame, our responsive actions to that shame, and how those actions may be transcribed into material. In addition to working in clay, modes such as journaling, voice and video recording will be explored. Readings and other media will contextualize how shame is culturally, socially, politically, and systemically ingrained. From this groundwork we will focus upon personalizing and sharing how we become aware of, process, accept, and learn from various forms of shame.
Throughout this examination of individualized and collective shame, we will consider how intentionality and slowness can be inserted into a culture that prioritizes instant gratification and consumption. Can we reduce affective shame through slow sieving?
About the Lead Artist
Xia Zhang is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator who was born in southern China, grew up in suburban Maryland and came into adulthood in Appalachia. Much of her work has evolved based on her observations and experiences from living in white-dominated communities from coal country to wine country. Repetition and process as a medium are the backbones to her practice that examines interiority in an imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.
Since 2012, Xia has exhibited in China, Thailand, and nationally. She was the 2016- 2017 Alice C. Cole Visiting Artist at Wellesley College (Wellesley, MA), a 2017-2018 resident artist at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (Gatlinburg, TN), and was an artist in residence summers 2018 & 2019 at The Growlery (San Francisco, CA). She is presently an Assistant Professor of Fine Art at the University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH) where she lives and works alongside her animals and plants.