iris yuting zeng — Apophatic Art Practice and Research

The Knot Before Language

As an outcome of a daily practice of drawing, the shapes came with no intended and choreographed start and end, and they organized themselves into a series with no conclusion. A mark keeps returning. None of them are exactly the same and yet they are not individual works, but a continuum work — each as a piece of the whole when slicing through time.

The work is about those seconds of suspended consciousness: a state achieved through saturation — when creating in the state of flow, or racing at the highest level where reflex precedes the cognitive command to the body. At those moments, the silence becomes expansive, pushing open a void in time and being. That one second felt longer but would immediately slip away if conscious effort is put in to keep that state going. It's almost like you tie your dog to the handle of the door at a coffee shop. The consciousness is kept outside for a moment.

Iris (Yuting) Zeng is an artist from Chongqing, China, based in Somerville and works in Cambridge. Her multidisciplinary practice—spanning drawing, sculpture, architecture, audio, documentary, and participatory public art—bridges the physical and the experiential.She investigates the human condition through the lens of the body, memory, and the land. Her background in biological anthropology, where she studied tooth sections and spinal structures of paleo-anthropoids, inspired her to investigate the bounds of human experience as a Homo sapiens. Training in documentary further honed her perception and visual reasoning. Zeng’s practice explores the interconnectedness of beings and place, engaging in acts of making that are both deeply personal and inherently collective. Without formal training in art, she approaches creation as a natural extension of life—essential and intuitive, like breathing.Through repetition, shared touch, and collaborative processes, her work creates a space for grounding, resilience, and communal reflection. Rooted in meditative practices, everyday rituals, and subtle gestures that accumulate over time, her art invites a quiet attentiveness. As a lifelong learner, she is energized and enlivened by moments of connection—sparks that emerge through collective making, tactile experience, and meditation. Iris is also ranked second globally(first in two categories) in Apple’s leaderboard for a minimalism racing game (Unpossible).

The Mark Before Mark 1, charcoal, ink, pencil on paper, 18"x24".

Cosmic Egg 1, charcoal, ink, pencil on paper, 18"x24".

Cosmic Egg 2, charcoal, ink, pencil on paper, 18"x24".