Other Rooms is a photographic project on the reconstruction of mental spaces. I imagine mental space as a reflective yet imaginative place located in one's mind, where distressing emotional experiences coexist with the present awareness of a different, if not necessarily more pleasant, state of mind. Using photographs as raw material, I build and digitally rearrange images in geometrical and sometimes irregular shapes to visualize the structuring of reorganized mental spaces. In this constructed world, for example, a bird from the wild is trapped in an architectural form, and an acupuncture model might find itself lost in an amusement park.

The displacement of images reflects how visual information is stored and merges over time. I use shape outlines as entrances and borders in imagined landscapes where opposites coexist and ambiguity is the norm. This project lies at the intersection of perceived reality and built spaces. Each shaped image is a container of emotions, concerns, perceptions, and fantasies. The work questions how mental spaces form and function, and how idiosyncratic perception influences and shapes how we make sense of the world.

Xuemeng Zhang is a visual artist whose practice is driven by exploring connections between the mind and the eye. Her work navigates between identity and culture, alienation and belonging, and apprehension and mindfulness. Zhang was born in Beijing. She currently lives and works in NYC. Zhang holds a BA in Psychology and Studio Art from Clark University, and an MFA in Photography, Video, and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts, where she was awarded the Alumni Scholarship and the Paula Rhodes Memorial Award for Exceptional Achievement. Her work has been exhibited in multiple group exhibitions in New York and New England.

For more information, visit: www.xuemengzhang.com
Interview with Xuemeng Zhang here