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2015-05-20 00:01:00.0
Explore the Unknown: Objects & Illusions

Explore the Unknown:
Objects & Illusions

Discover artist
Ji Zhou’s creative world

Ji Zhou primarily works within photography and sculpture, delving into the mundane details of life by taking the essence of common objects and transforming them, revealing the beauty of the unknown. As part of Lane Crawford’s PLATFORM initiative to help grow and nurture tomorrow’s new talent, we present Zhou’s latest installation series entitled ‘Object’ in store. Here, he explores the relationship between these objects and illusions.

Born in Beijing in 1970, Ji Zhou studied painting from a young age, graduating from the printmaking department of the acclaimed Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. After moving to Paris, where he lived for over a decade, Zhou graduated from the prestigious Sorbonne University with a Masters in Plastic Arts. Since returning to China, his work has been exhibited extensively at home and internationally.

Ji is an artist that transcends labels. Though he himself leans towards photography and sculpture, he does not feel that artists as a whole should be defined by the materials they work with. Instead, he describes himself as ‘A man who chooses to live his life by creating art.’ Growing up in China had an undeniable but surprisingly subtle impact on his way of working; rather, his point of view has been shaped through his personal study of prints and printmaking. ‘To me, there were different stages of learning,’ he says. ‘When I was studying printmaking in China, it was more about learning how to use different materials. When I studied Plastic Arts in Paris, it was more about learning how to go beyond the constraint of materials to find the best way to express myself through my work. To me, the biggest differences [between studying in China and Paris] is “How should I do this?” versus “Why should I do this?”’

Ji’s pieces are inspired by his experience of living in a modern society, using different materials and forms to encourage people to reflect on how we face rapid development in an ever-changing world. In his latest installation series, ‘Object’, Ji explores the relationship between object and illusion. ‘What we do and what we see lies somewhere between imagination and reality,’ he says.

A series of found objects from daily life appear sliced in half, covered in ash and displayed on mirrored surface stands. Yet from every angle, the object is seen as whole, creating an optical illusion. Zhou states, ‘I want to create the idea that all forms are illusory.’

I want to use these objects to recall different moments in life, and allow audiences with different backgrounds to form their own interpretations. I don’t want to force them to think in the same way as I did, because I believe different interpretations are reflections of different experiences in life.

The concept of ‘dust’ and ‘ashes’ are a constant presence in his work, symbolic of two elements: time and history. Dust tells of the passage of time that has gone by, and ashes tell the story of the past that has faded away; together, it tells us everything we need to know about the future.

‘We live in a global village. Not dissimilar to other countries, art has been gaining more and more traction in China and we have already a wealth of talented local artists. I don’t want to predict the future of art in China, because art cannot be isolated from the changing world, it grows in parallel [to the world],’ Ji mused when reflecting on the future of Chinese art.

Discover Objects by Ji Zhou at Lane Crawford Yin Tai Centre, Beijing.