QUIET BUT NOT SILENT

Zoey Yang began drawing and playing piano at the age of two, and both art forms remain a strong passion of hers to this day. Yang feels that her visual art often takes on musical shapes, echoing the expressive forms found in abstract expressionism—a source of inspiration for the artist. She is originally from Beijing, China, has spent time living in the United Kingdom, and now resides in Montreal, Canada. She currently studies Cognitive Science at McGill University with a minor in Art History.

Quiet but not Silent depicts a serene nude model resting on a chair. Yang has a deep interest in colour theory—the psychological link between colours and emotions—a sentiment that is clear in this painting. The work is dominated by shades of blue, contributing to a sense of tranquillity and quiet, gently balanced with traces of amber pigment. Yang’s enthusiastic and intentional use of varying brush strokes blur the line between abstraction and pure representation, enlivening the painting with a distinct kind of musicality. Live models can be considered vulnerable both in their positionality as subject to the artist, and also in their nudity. The vulnerability of this figure is amplified by their downcast gaze, and this relates to Yang’s observation of minority groups in society—how they are obligated to appear composed and undisturbed when, in fact, their beliefs and lived experiences are constantly being challenged. Significantly, the figure depicted is an elderly, disabled woman. This sort of artistic representation is important and rare. Elderly women, especially with a disability, are rarely depicted in art—and even rarer still in the nude. Yang paints this model with a deep empathy and grace, cultivating a sense of dignity for the represented figure.

As an artist, Yang is inspired by her family. She is passionate about feminist art history, and aims to tackle society’s prejudices against women using nude bodies in their pieces of work. The figure of the nude woman is being shown through Yang’s artistic gaze, and thereby exists outside of patriarchal pressures to perform. Through the considered use of colour, brushwork, and artistic generosity, the possibility of an exciting and powerful dimension is created—one where artist and subject alike are author to their barest truths.