疲倦時，身體像被地面拉住；快樂時，卻又彷彿輕得可以飄起來。對 Jesse Zhang（Instagram：@jessezhangart）而言，身體不只是人物的外形，更是一片能夠承載情緒、動作與故事的風景。
When we are tired, the body can feel heavy and drawn towards the ground; when we are joyful, it can seem almost weightless. For Jesse Zhang （Instagram：@jessezhangart）, the human body is more than a figure—it is a landscape through which emotion, movement and stories can unfold.
來自紐約布魯克林的插畫家 Jesse Zhang，以流動的人體、超現實場景和柔和卻鮮明的色彩建立出獨特的視覺語言。她曾在紐約 School of Visual Arts 修讀藝術，亦於阿姆斯特丹 Gerrit Rietveld Academie 學習。畢業後，她並沒有立即成為全職插畫家，而是先後從事零售及平面設計工作，花了數年才逐漸建立自己的作品集。這段看似繞遠的創作道路，反而讓她慢慢找到屬於自己的聲音。
Illustrator from Brooklyn, New York Jesse Zhang has developed a distinctive visual language of flowing human forms, surreal landscapes and expressive colour. She studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Yet her path into illustration was far from immediate: after graduating, she worked in retail and graphic design and spent several years gradually building her portfolio. Rather than being a detour, this winding journey helped her develop a visual voice of her own.
人體是 Jesse 作品中最吸引人的元素之一。她從舞蹈、瑜伽，以至日常生活中的身體動作尋找靈感——例如疲倦時彎下來的背脊，或興奮時像要漂浮起來的感覺。她認為人體是一種幾乎所有人都能直覺理解的形象，就算沒有仔細描繪人物表情，也能透過姿態傳遞感受。她甚至笑言自己非常討厭畫直線，於是索性順應自己的習慣，以彎曲、柔軟而有機的線條建立人物，它們的身體在她筆下，時而又像山丘、河流與漂浮的地景。
The human form is one of the most compelling elements in Jesse’s work. She draws inspiration from dance, yoga and ordinary bodily experiences—from the hunched posture of exhaustion to the sensation of feeling so elated that one could almost float. Because the body is something viewers instinctively recognise, posture alone can communicate a feeling without relying on detailed facial expressions. Jesse even admits that she dislikes drawing straight lines, choosing instead to embrace curving, organic shapes and brushstrokes. In her illustrations, bodies resemble hills, rivers and floating landscapes.
而 Jesse 的作品最迷人的地方，也許正是它們沒有急着告訴觀眾「應該感受甚麼」。她只是把人物、色彩與空間放在一起，讓我們從一個彎腰、一個漂浮的姿勢，或一片顏色之中找到自己的感受。對她而言，創作也不用只停留在畫畫上；寫作、烹飪、烘焙、鉤織和拼貼同樣可以成為創意的出口，最後再慢慢回歸作品之中。
Perhaps the most captivating quality of Jesse’s work is that it never rushes to tell viewers what they should feel. Instead, figures, colours and spaces are brought together, leaving us to recognise our own experiences in a bent back, a floating body or a particular shade of colour. For Jesse, creativity does not need to remain within drawing either; writing, cooking, baking, crochet and collage all provide other ways to create, with that energy eventually flowing back into her illustrations.
圖片提供：藝術家 Jesse Zhang｜Courtesy of Jesse Zhang Instagram：@jessezhangart