ELIZABETH JAMES (JIN SHA)
BACKGROUND
The arresting energy of Chinese line in particular, has always held my attention.
I made my first trip to China in 1988.
In 1991-92 I returned to study Traditional Chinese Painting at Zhe Jiang Art Academy.
During my study breaks I was able to travel extensively across the Country.
The chance to live in a foreign environment has had a rich, ever-emerging and
lasting effect on my life and art-making.
It was a vital privilege, which I feel deserves to be rewarded by
the creation of opportunities such as this project to share one's
knowledge and experience and foster the development of new exchanges.
I continue to use my modest Chinese language skills regularly.
Last year a Beijing Middle School, visited our studios.
Recently, I had the privilege of meeting and exhibiting with Professor Ren Ping
from Hangzhou during his stay in Melbourne. I currently study Chinese calligraphy
and painting (in Mandarin) with artists from the local Chinese community at Box Hill.
My work is included in the tenth anniversary exhibition of the
Chinese Artists Society of Victoria and in their soon to be released book.
BODY OF WORK
The impression that remains strongest from my recent return
to China after a decade's absence was the pace and scale of building
development both in Shanghai and Hangzhou. This "race towards the heavens",
combined with the continued support and friendship extended to me by a local
Hangzhou family has inspired my latest piece of work.
I seek out new cultural experiences and am intrigued by the process of migration.
Families who start afresh with future generations in their vision,
braving new languages, customs and lifestyles, sacrificing careers,
gambling their own potential and ambitions for the safety and
opportunity their children will take for granted.
Yet, in these new migrants, I find a generosity of spirit, a joy in sharing,
and endless hours of commitment to maintaining and continuing to build upon
the rich cultural wealth that gives them identity and nourishes their soul
through countless hardships.
I wish to present Melbourne as seen from their viewpoint.
To address the lure of the big city, of a lifetimes' journey,
juxtaposed against a reflective view of the key players and their individual circumstances.
I enjoy the play of meshing the patterning and rhythms of the landscape,
constant forms and slow shifting light, against the busy,
ever-changing movements of the moment, made by the creatures that inhabit that space.
My purpose is to challenge intervals of time and how we interpret them.
I am just as interested in the small and particular as the larger structure -
searching for the best solution to providing an intimate incidental
vision and an informed overview; a drawn environment that invites you to
journey into it to pause and explore without losing the
sense of being grounded within the whole.
