This workshop invites participants to explore the intersections of image-based practices with installation art, public art, and sculptural modes of presentation. Through a sample of approaches, attendees will discover how photography and image-making can extend beyond traditional formats into immersive, spatial, and community-centered contexts. Led by artist Shellie Zhang, whose multidisciplinary practice draws inspiration from sources such as archival material, films, and everyday objects, the session will delve into her creative process—from transforming research findings into images to exploring the diverse possibilities for presenting and disseminating image-based work. Participants will learn strategies for adapting their work to various venues, navigating site-specific contexts, and fostering engagement with audiences.
Shellie Zhang (b. 1991, Beijing, China) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Toronto and New Haven. Through a diverse range of media, Zhang explores how histories of translation, migration, and memory leave traces and impressions. Her work examines the processes of integration and assimilation, the ways culture is learned, sustained, and negotiated, how manifestations of these ideas relate to lived experiences and how symbols and icons are remembered and preserved. Influenced by oral and local histories, language, signage, and daily rituals, Zhang’s practice seeks to locate sacredness, resilience, and familiarity within the transformation of cultural symbols, forming new visual languages through hybridity.
