YAPEI RAVEN ZHANG


Columbia University, Master of Science in Critical, Curatorial & Conceptual Practices
2023-Present

Tsinghua University, Bachelor of Architecture
2017-2023

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To Vanquish the Dragon and Tiger

Illustration, Personal Project
2022/10/01-2022/10/22


[To Vanquish the Dragon and Tiger]

Illustration, Personal Project
Beijing, China
2022/10/01-2022/10/22
The project is a design of 2023 Chinese New Year Card. It was based on the iconography of Tu'er Ye (兔兒爺), a deity of Chinese folk religion unique to Beijing. The card applies the technique of letterpress printing.

In the Chinese Zodiac System, 2023 is the year of rabbit (兔). The year before was tiger's and the year after dragon's. In the traditional iconography, Tu'er Ye (兔兒爺) rides a tiger, a dragon, or a horse. Here, I chose his most popular mount, a tiger, while adding a dragon skeleton as its background. I intended to imply the Chinese idiom "Xianglong Fuhu (降龍伏虎)," meaning "to Vanquish the Dragon and Tiger." It is also a visualization of how time flies: the year 2022 (tiger) lost its reign; 2023 (rabbit) becomes the master; and when its life comes to an end, 2024 (dragon) will rise from its dead body (化龍).

001Initial design in Rhinoceros.
002aStroke applied version for letterpress plate making. This image corresponds to the plate of yellow ink.
002bDigital version for online distribution.
003Letterpress plate for yellow ink.
004Yellow ink printed.

005aThe final outcome.
005bThe final outcome.