Sacramento State art graduate student Hong Zhang uses hair in her artwork to create a space filled with mystery and contradictions.

Hong?s Master of Arts exhibition “Twin Spirits,” which runs through April 26 in the Witt Gallery, is about her relationship with her twin sister, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

“Even though we live separate lives, she is still an important part of my life”, Zhang said.

Her artwork uses hair to express how she and her sister Bo Zhang had never been apart before arriving to the United State in 1996.

Two pieces are 10 feet high by four feet wide and the other one is 30 feet long by five feet wide. Hong uses hair as a reference to create a point in her art, which brings mystery and clarity and also to give it a flow.

She uses black and white to reflect the Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang, “which are intertwined and inseparable.” She also says that using the black and white gives a 3-D effect to the details of her works. Zhang has been working on the pieces since September 2001.

Zhang was born to parents who were also in the art profession in China, and has been studying art since she was 15 years old. She first studied art at the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing, China in 1994, then moved to the United States with her identical twin sister and is now working on her master?s degree in studio art.

She is a second year graduate student and married her husband, John Kennedy, in 1997. They both encourage each other’s career goals and art professions. Her husband says that his wife’s art exhibition at Sac State is an important start for her. Zhang wants to become a teacher to pass on to her students what she?s learned.

The pieces will be available for viewing in the on-campus Witt Gallery from noon to 4:30 p.m. from now through April 26, and there will be a reception April 26 at 6 to 8 p.m.