Barriers, whether created by societal norms, economic factors, religious beliefs, or cultural values, present themselves as invisible forces that dictate the way we feel, act, and make decisions. Under these invisible barriers, different people have experienced different kinds of obstacles in their lives, and many times we struggle to break out from these constraints that limit our potential for fulfillment and satisfaction. The theme of confinement is apparent in Tiao s work. Carving in wood, the artist feels in communion with nature. In today s society, she sees the disappearance of mysticism and poetic sensation that are found in nature.
Man is preoccupied with technology and cyberspace.
Patriarchal domination has subdued the feminine nature in man, and advancements in science have alienated man further from nature. In her works, human forms are represented as trapped inside a shell, a cocoon, from which the forms twist and wriggle, and await to emerge in an evolved, altered state. Zhang s subjects, on the other hand, literally break out from a wall. The wall symbolizing boundary, impediment, obstruction, is represented as a solid, reinforced mass. Yet it is not indestructible.