Chi: The Untamed Spirit
The H Foundation for the Arts is proud to present Chi: The Untamed Spirit, the first U.S. solo exhibition of contemporary Chinese painter Zheng Chi (郑驰). On view from October 18 through December 13, 2025, the exhibition invites audiences to experience the artist’s powerful transformation of personal constraint into creative freedom.
The title Chi (驰), meaning “to gallop” in Chinese, embodies both motion and vitality. For the artist, who creates from her wheelchair following a life-changing accident, the word also carries profound contradiction—a longing for movement that she channels into an unrestrained artistic voice. In classical Chinese, Chi also refers to “horse,” her zodiac sign, symbolizing strength, persistence, and an untamed pursuit of life.
The exhibition traces Chi’s creative journey across major series such as Leda and the Swan, The Color of Pomegranate, Red Series, Mythology, Golden, Blue Flame, and Flowers–Fish–Bones.
Through these works, Chi’s painting becomes a site of confrontation and release, reflection and renewal—an act of breathing through paint.
Zheng Chi (b. 1978, Chongqing, China) is a contemporary painter whose practice transforms limitation into liberation and struggle into creation. A graduate of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, she is currently a lecturer at the School of Fine Arts, Southwest Minzu University, and a member of the Sichuan Artists Association. She has presented solo exhibitions in Beijing and Chengdu, and participated in major art platforms including Art Beijing, Art Hainan, and the New Zealand Arts Festival. Her works, characterized by allegorical imagery, emotional intensity, and spiritual resilience, articulate a distinct visual language of freedom and transcendence.
Artist He Duoling on Zheng Chi:
“Zheng Chi, as her name suggests, was once fiery and bold—her paintings large and full of energy. Today she works in quiet concentration, weaving her dreams upon small canvases with delicate patience. In her paintings, one can see the path she walks—winding and luminous, marked with flowers. Though night falls, it belongs to dreams; though clouds gather, they hang low and silent. As her friend, we tread carefully around this surreal path—one that belongs to Zheng Chi alone.”
— He Duoling