Author: Nuoxin Zhang
Hi, I’m Nuoxin Zhang. I’m currently a student passionate about exploring how art can communicate urgent issues, especially those related to the environment. I’ve always been drawn to the emotional power of visuals—the way one image can make you stop, feel, and think. Through this project, I began to see how creative expression can move beyond personal emotion and become a call to collective action. My goal is to create art that invites reflection, sparks curiosity, and encourages people to see their relationship with the planet in a new light.
Whether it’s through research, writing, or creating pieces like “The Mirror Banana,” I hope to blend imagination with responsibility—to use art not just to observe the world, but to help heal it.
“The Mirror Banana”
“The Mirror Banana” is a surreal, thought-provoking piece that blends humor with symbolism to reflect on the relationship between nature, consumption, and self-awareness. At first glance, the image may evoke curiosity or even amusement—a monkey gazing at a banana shaped like a mirror. But look deeper, and the meaning unfolds.
The monkey, a symbol of the natural world, holds up a banana not to eat, but to look into—as if questioning its own reflection. The banana, a stand-in for human consumption and environmental exploitation, doubles as a mirror, confronting the viewer with their own habits and choices. In this moment of silent reflection, the monkey becomes a metaphor for all of us: creatures caught between instinct and insight, between nature and the consequences of human impact.
This piece invites viewers to consider: When we look into what we consume, do we see ourselves? Do we see the cost? And can we, like the monkey, pause long enough to reflect—before it’s too late?
“Art is not a mirror to hold up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.”
— Bertolt Brecht