Art by Yuki Zhang ’24
In her drawing, “Messenger of Hope,” Yuki Zhang ’24 depicts the arrival of spring by illustrating a flying squirrel amid a bleak forest, bringing life to its surroundings with just a few touches. Upon contact with the tree trunk, light green branches sprout from the squirrel’s paws and descend smoothly along the tree bark. A ray of sunlight strikes the tree, illuminating the squirrel and its paw set on the lush green leaves.
Zhang perceives the squirrel in her painting as the “Messenger of Hope,” bringing the note of spring to the barren forest. “Winter is desolate,” Zhang said. “Spring is when life returns again. Everything goes back to being colorful. In this painting, the squirrel spreads life through a bare world, symbolizing the arrival of spring.”
When creating the piece, Zhang gathered inspiration from various facets of her life. She was always fascinated by nature — she enjoys caressing the breeze and letting herself be embraced by the smooth, warm wind, releasing her crowded thoughts and emotions into the breath of nature; she enjoys meandering in the woods after rain, feeling the moist atmosphere surrounding her and seeing the crystal clear dew falling from lofty trees. Zhang weaved her appreciation for nature in this artwork.
“I really like drawing animals because I feel that they best portray innocence,” Zhang explained. “As for the background, I was inspired by a Netflix show, “Stranger Things,” to illustrate desolation by depicting a blue glow illuminating the forest.”
Accustomed to several mediums, including watercolor and oil painting, Zhang thought that the vibrant colors and thick texture of acrylic paints would best fit the lively feeling of the artwork. “Other mediums like watercolor create a thinner layer of paint, which has its own unique visual effects,” Zhang said. “However, for this painting, I wanted the colors to especially pop for the squirrel to show the contrast between it and the background, so I chose acrylic as my medium.”
Apart from expressing the message of spring, Zhang emphasizes another key theme in her painting: animal endangerment. The squirrel depicted in the painting is a flying squirrel, an endangered, omnivorous species of squirrel that is active at night and whose membrane, stretching from arm to ankle, allows it to glide through the air. By illustrating the flying squirrel in her painting, Zhang hopes to spread awareness of their endangerment and to call for the protection of all species.
“Spring, hope, life, kindness,” Zhang said. “In the end, it’s all about spreading the good things.”
