Traditional Girl is an assemblage of images, printed from vvvvvwood blocks,type and rubber stamps of various sizes and vvvvvcolored by hand to produce something that is between a print vvvvvand a painting. The two side panels of this work may seem vvvvvidentical at first glance, but a closer look will reveal vvvvvmany variations. In the decorative borders that surround the vvvvvwoodcuts of the “traditional girl” smaller elements are vvvvvrepeated over and over: a fish, a grotesque mask, Chinese vvvvvwriting, and the Arabic numerals familiar to Europeans and vvvvvAmericans.

vvvvvZheng Xuewu studied printmaking at Harbin University in vvvvvnortheastern China. Since the early 1990s he has been active vvvvvin Beijing, the capital of China and the one city with a vvvvvsignificant community of full-time professional artists. vvvvvDuring the month of November he is a visiting artist at the vvvvvUNC Art Department. You can see more of his work on display vvvvvin the Art Department office, in the Hanes Art Center next vvvvvdoor to the Ackland.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvTimothy Riggs,the curator of the Ackland Museum