Leah Ke Yi Zheng. Photo: Zoey Marciniak. Courtesy of Mendes Wood DM.
Leah Ke Yi Zheng describes her practice like a gyroscope, propelled by unseen yet powerful forces of philosophy, theory, history, and a keen sense of both physical and visual balance.
Leah Ke Yi Zheng, no. 34 (2024). Courtesy of the artist and Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brussels, Paris, New York.
Following the gallery’s announcement of its representation of Zheng, she is now presenting her second solo exhibition with Mendes Wood DM in New York, titled I-Ching / Machine. On view through March 1, 2025, the exhibition explores themes of machinery and the ancient Chinese text I-Ching, reflecting these influences in Zheng’s latest body of work.
The I Ching, one of the oldest Chinese classics from the Western Zhou period (1000–750 B.C.E.), originated as a divination text and later evolved into a symbolic system for understanding the universe. It is best known for its 64 hexagrams—figures of six stacked lines, broken or unbroken, each carrying symbolic meaning.
I-Ching / Machine marks a pivotal moment in Zheng’s practice, emphasizing her engagement with spatial context. She carefully designed the exhibition layout across two floors at Mendes Wood DM. The ground floor features her I-Ching paintings, focused on hexagram motifs, while the lower level showcases machine-inspired works, including her first video piece.
Installation view of “Leah Ke Yi Zheng: I-Ching / Machine” (2024). Courtesy of the artist and Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brussels, Paris, New York.
The exhibition creates a dynamic journey of shifting perspectives, forming a new field of exploration beyond the individual works.
“This show made me realize how generative it is—it opens up endless possibilities,” Zheng explains. “When I commit to a motif or body of work, I organize its elements carefully, allowing them to evolve into a machine of meaning, sparking connections and reflections on our time.”
On the lower level, a video cycles through all 64 I-Ching hexagram paintings, each frame labeled with Zheng’s handwritten titles. While the static paintings upstairs may initially recall Western abstraction—evoking artists like Agnes Martin or Frank Stella—the video, with the projector’s faint hum, reveals a deeper, evolving meaning.
“They are generative expansions yet complete within themselves,” Zheng explains. Returning to the ground floor, comparisons to Abstract Expressionism or Minimalism fade, making way for spiritual and intuitive influences akin to Hilma af Klint or Kandinsky.
Zheng’s lower-level works depict ghostly machine parts—wheels, cogs, and gears—blurring the line between mechanical and abstract. These elements, drawn from real devices, hint at her key inquiries.
One example, Untitled (no. 27 / Leibniz’s machine) (2024), references the 17th-century “stepped reckoner,” the first mechanical calculator. Once revolutionary, it now feels archaic. Similarly, a fusee, a mechanism in antique clocks, reflects how timekeeping has evolved, reminding us of shifting perceptions of time.
Leah Ke Yi Zheng, Machines (2024). Courtesy of the artist and Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brussels, Paris, New York.
By integrating abstracted machine elements—especially those linked to math and time—Zheng adds another layer of meaning, particularly in the context of the Information Age.
“In today’s world of data, time feels flattened, erasing past and future,” she explains. “My work is an attempt to paint time.” Her pieces embody this paradox: still yet suggestive of movement, flat yet hinting at depth. Even the viewer’s time spent with the paintings becomes part of the experience.
The physicality of Zheng’s work is integral to her vision. Thinned paint on silk is stretched over subtly distorted mahogany frames, blurring the line between image and material.
“The shaped stretchers feel off-balance, but the paintings—whether abstract I-Ching or machine-inspired—restore equilibrium,” Zheng explains. “Each piece has its own presence, like a person.” The silk’s translucency allows the mahogany’s deep tones to subtly emerge, especially under direct light.
Leah Ke Yi Zheng, no. 43 (2024). Courtesy of the artist and Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brussels, Paris, New York.
Zheng’s choice to work on silk traces back to her childhood and early artistic training. Though she initially studied law, she later pursued art, earning her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2019. Reflecting on her early lessons in Chinese calligraphy and traditional techniques, she recalled, “I just remembered a silk painting I did when I was younger that I really enjoyed.” After having silks shipped from China, the material became central to her practice.
In Untitled (spinning machine) (2024), Zheng suspends the piece from the ceiling, allowing viewers to see both sides and even through the silk. On this unconventional display, she notes, “It’s a suggestion—others can be hung this way too, and that’s okay.”
Zheng excels in blending the past with the future, suspending time in her work. Rather than viewing time as linear, she approaches it as a vast pool of human experience, drawing from ancient Chinese texts, mechanical objects, and contemporary philosophy. This perspective offers a fresh way to understand time, inviting viewers to explore alongside her.
By combining Chinese and European philosophy, history, and artistic traditions, Zheng’s work disrupts traditional boundaries between East and West, making such binaries irrelevant.
The artist emphasizes a “total commitment” to her work, blending painting, concept, and perpetual motion. While influenced by thinkers like Walter Benjamin, Michel Foucault, and Roland Barthes, the I Ching serves as a core guide, balancing its roles in divination and metaphysics. By focusing on the spiritual and conceptual, her work becomes part of a larger commentary on humanity’s perspective of the world.
“It’s like a full circle. I create for myself first, and then the work enters the world, allowing viewers to expand their own experience inward.”
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