XIAOHONG ZHANG, Multimedia Arts Professor: "Right now everything is digital, it's new… so as artist I have to know that."
XIAOHONG ZHANG'S LIFE IS A BLEND OF NEW… AND OLD.
AS A MULTIMEDIA PROFESSOR, SHE TEACHES THE LATEST DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES… AS AN ARTIST, SHE USES AN ANCIENT TECHNIQUE TO BRING PAPER TO LIFE.
XIAO: "Paper cutting is old medium, but my paper cutting I think is new."
BORN AND RAISED IN CHINA, XIAO TRAINED AS A TRADITIONAL ARTIST.
XIAO: "My drawing is very, very realistic style. Like if you draw a hand, to be a real hand, to look like a real hand, this is a good thing."
BUT HER VIEWS ON ART CHANGED WHEN SHE CAME TO THE U.S.
XIAO: "It opened my view… make me realize… the concept is wider than before."
AND BEING FAR AWAY FROM HOME… ACTUALLY BROUGHT HER CLOSER TO HER ROOTS.
XIAO: "I'm Chinese, I need to do something that belongs to myself, so I start to do paper cutting."
HER FIRST PIECES WERE MORE TRADITIONAL… BUT THEN SHE STARTED MERGING HER SKILLS.
XIAO: "I realized I should combine digital media with paper cutting."
XIAO TRAVELED BACK TO CHINA TO DOCUMENT THE TRADITIONAL ART FORM… IN A VILLAGE DEVOTED SPECIFICALLY TO PAPER CUTTING.
SHE SAW HOW SOME TRADITIONAL FORMS USE COLOR AND IMAGES TO CONVEY DEEPER MEANING.
XIAO: "I want to tell stories."
AND SHE REALIZED SHE COULD TELL MORE COMPLEX STORIES BY DIGITALLY BLENDING IMAGES & PRINTING STYLIZED PAPER FOR HER CUTTINGS.
XIAO: "They have two ways to show stories from one piece. One is the cutting of the lines… another is imaging side."
THESE FORMS SHOW THE COLLISION OF EASTERN AND WESTERN CULTURES. ANIMALS FROM THE CHINESE ZODIAC, CUT FROM A COLLAGE OF DISNEY IMAGES.
XIAO: "Many many Asian cultures fade out right now. They grow up with Disney stories, they only know Disney. In China, we should keep our old culture. We have to be proud of ourselves."
AND SHE IS PROUD OF FINDING A WAY TO BLEND THE FOREIGN WITH THE FAMILIAR. THOUGH THE FINAL PRODUCT IS BEAUTIFUL, XIAO FEELS HER ARTWORK IS SUCCESSFUL IF IT MAKES YOU THINK.
XIAO: "I want everybody can hear my voice."
AN ARTISTIC VOICE THAT SPANS CULTURES AND GENERATIONS.
Music fades out.