Artist Statement/ Biography

Our baser nature yearns for transcendence. When confronted with a fractured memory, we gather the shards & splitters, piece them together within a frame that elevates our roles, lends higher meaning to our lives

The myths we create may be born from imagination & our propensity to perceive patterns even in a void. That doesn’t negate their validity or power. For often, the fabricated holds up the more faithful mirror to our inner reality, with the potential to catalyse change & revelation, than what lies within the immediate ken of our senses

My investigation into myth & memory began on a personal level, shifting to the scale of a city with New York. For more than anywhere else, this city exists as both geographic entity & ideal. Its dominant narrative of material success & the “American Dream” makes it perfect for an exercise in re-imagination & historical revisionism. To dream up an alternate reality, a transcendental mythology for this mythic city

---

Ren Zi returned to art making in 2006 after half a lifetime in the business of words. His early investigations focused on the process through which fractured memories are woven into mythologies. He is now exploring the rewiring of internal reality through historical revisionism & the hacking of mythologies - social, cultural, personal. An autodidact, he adopts a catholic approach to his practice that incorporates digital tools & a variety of media.