Artwork copyright Zhi Lin. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Hoof Prints, study for Drawing and Quartering, 2003

Zhi Lin
(American, born 1959)

Location: Shoreline Community College, Shoreline

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Chinese-born artist Zhi Lin's 'Hoof Prints' is a study for his larger artwork “Drawing and Quartering” (not in the State Art Collection) that explores the human capacity for cruelty and punishment. This drawing focuses on and "studies" one small part of the larger artwork: a horse’s hoof prints in sand or soft dirt. The hoof prints are detailed, subtle, and beautiful. The quiet, simple scene clearly suggests the pacing, active horse that was in the same spot a short time ago.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Shoreline Community College.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Seattle-based artist and professor Zhi Lin creates paintings and works on paper. Growing up during China’s Cultural Revolution, Lin began creating art for art’s sake “to stay away from the intervention of the communist government.” After the Tiananmen Square protests in China in 1989, Lin immigrated to the United States. He focused his art on the following: “to voice social commentaries, to further cultural awareness, and to reveal the complexity in the world around us.” This focus includes political events in China and the common use of the death penalty in the United States.

Lin earned a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China. He earned Master of Fine Arts degrees from the Slade School of Fine Art at University College (London, England), and the University of Delaware. He is a Professor of Painting and Drawing at University of Washington in Seattle. He previously taught at Missouri State University.