‘I could see the personality and expression on their faces’: How one artist found inspiration in the Kansas Prairie

Photo caption:  Zhang Hongtu expands the way in which viewers perceive the world around them, drawing connections between cultures. He has created a picture with cranes, which symbolizes longevity in Chinese culture, flying over a bison, which symbolizes life. Zhang visited the Beach Museum of Art on Oct. 10, 2019. (Dylan Connell | Collegian Media Group)

Throughout history, the Kansas Plains and Prairies have inspired several people in many different ways. For Zhang Hongtu, it has been through art.

A native of China, Hongtu is a Prairie Studies Institute artist-in-residence and gave a talk regarding his experiences with the prairie on Thursday at the Beach Museum of Art.

The bison and beauty of the plains inspired Hongtu during a trip to Manhattan in 2018.

Since his first trip to Kansas, Hongtu said he has been back three times — each time he visited a different area to learn more about the plains.

Some of Hongtu’s work in the prairie series is the result of exploring technology to create art.

“With digital media and my iPad, I have been able to increase detail and create different techniques and also blend different mediums that I normally wouldn’t be able to,” Hongtu said. […]

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