The utmost pleasure is no pleasure

This body of work takes black iron mesh installation as its carrier, trapping and enclosing ink-wash imagery behind the grid. It serves not only as a distinctive visual language, but also a sincere projection of the artist’s own life condition.During the 2020 Spring Festival, the artist was stuck in New York under lockdown due to the pandemic, confined to limited space and stripped of personal freedom. Torn between restriction and liberty, imprisonment and safety, art became an outlet for her emotions, granting her a lucid, optimistic and open-minded outlook that allowed her to find joy amid hardship.Heidegger’s philosophy of being-toward-death holds that human existence is fundamentally a process of facing ultimate nothingness while pursuing freedom. 

Through the dialogue between iron mesh and pottery figurines, Zhang Yanzi conveys her unique philosophy of life: instead of struggling against circumstances, people should embrace the present with contentment and peace of mind. Only by seeking inner freedom within external limits can we grasp the true meaning of liberation in hardship.