Artist Bio:

Cui Jinzhe, pen name Qiu Shi, painter, multidisciplinary artist whose practice is fundamentally based on painting, Chinese calligraphy, and writing. Jinzhe was born and raised in Dalian, China. She was obsessed with drawing, singing and dancing since her early childhood. In 2008, Jinzhe came to Canada where her work has been focusing on self - enlightenment, community intervention and cultural integration.

Cui Jinzhe mingles Chinese ancient blessing patterns and traditional Chinese symbolic totems. She also uses graphics on ancient Chinese costumes and silk embroidery and historical artifacts, reconstructing them with a contemporary emotional incarnation. Jinzhe redrew history from a modern perspective so that people nowadays can empathize with history. As Benedetto Croce said, “All history is contemporary history.” Her art works create a metaphor for the concept that there is an invisible reality may have occurred in the past, recur in the future, or may be happening in this world at present. “It also implies my intuitive sensation and imagination about the origin of life”, Cui Jinzhe said.

The integration of diverse elements Jinzhe examines has a traditional origin; for example, the image of the Chinese dragon. It’s shape is composed of nine animals: its head resembles a camel’s, its horns resemble those of a deer, its eyes resemble those of a rabbit, its ears resemble a cow’s, its neck resembles a snake’s, its belly resembles a serpent, its squama resembles a carp’s, its claws resemble those of an eagle and its palms resemble those of a tiger. This type of art genre uses compound forms of multiple graphics and is like Lover’s Whisper which uses a modern perspective to narrate the misty, looming eternal love of mankind!

A yearning for ancient heritage as well as the imagination for future, Jinzhe’s art practice, everyday life, and inner aspiration are realized and challenged. Her practice often developed from traditional Chinese art genre, then expressed in contemporary multimedia language and her individual artistic styles. In recent years, she is passionate to examine the boundaries between painting, installation and experimental performances. Her work often evokes experience of presence and inquiries inner space exploration.

Jinzhe’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Her art has been collected by Hemera Foundation, Xucun Art Museum, Edmonton Arts Council, City of Saskatoon, Wuyang Folk Painting Commune, Society of Northern Alberta Print-Artists, Dalian Polytechnic University, Edmonton Chinatown Chinese Library, and numerous private collectors from Canada, USA, and China.


Deep thanks to Canada Council for the Arts, Edmonton Arts Council, City of Edmonton, Edmonton Heritage Council, Saskatchewan Arts Board, Government of Saskatchewan, City of Saskatoon, Access Copyright Foundation, Hemera Foundation, Zen Mountain Monastery, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Mactarggart Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and everyone like you who have made Jinzhe' s various projects possible and be seen.