The Guesthouse of Cascades

Wenxin Zhang

Jiazazhi Press

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First Edition
176 × 285 mm
116 pages
Limited Edition of 800

In “The Guesthouse of Cascades”, faint traces lead the readers to a journey that lies between reality and illusion. Departing from a mountain guesthouse that dates back in the 90s, the experience from the past and present entangles, the "beasts" that hides in the crevice slowly appear beyond the images. Every page of the book resembles a slice of time. It forms an entity with a fluid structure through folding/spreading, stacking/isolating and stitching/cutting. From straight photography to photos that are interrupted by simulated materials, and to 3D modeling and animations that use photographs as textures, this book is not merely a presentation of Zhang’s existing works, but a new body of work that is developed from an alchemy of imagery. Just like the cascades in the book title, these images construct the narrative as water shapes cliffs and the shallows.

Wenxin Zhang was born in 1989 and currently lives and works in Anhui. She has received her MFA degree at California College of the Arts in 2013. Zhang was a receiver of the Magnum Foundation Atlantic Philanthropies Grant in 2015, and she was selected as British Journal of Photograph’s 2016 New Talent. She was also a finalist in 2014 Three Shadows Photography Award and the 2014 Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award. She has also participated in artist residencies and exhibitions in both China and overseas. Zhang utilizes video, CG, photography and installation, as well as combines writing and music to create process-oriented perceptual experience that usually starts from everyday experience and then grows into the continuous reflections on time and transcendence.