Ceramic artist brings new approach to tradition

The ongoing exhibition displays the most recent output of this style: three installations that provide the audience with an immersive experience and extend their understanding of ceramics as an art form of infinite possibilities.

Triple Reflections of Flowers, for example, is a work on display in which dozens of qinghua cobalt blue ceramic tiles are hung in midair and reflected in mirrors that form three walls and the floor.

Zhu says the work is drawn on his study of the qinghua (patterns in cobalt blue on a white ground) porcelain, produced during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). He says that qinghua porcelain presents the chemistry between graceful outlines and patterns, and he wants to transfer that from a semitranslucent flat surface to a three-dimensional space.

The installation not only allows people to enter just to take photos. It also became a stage, where dances and traditional Chinese music were performed during the exhibition opening.

"The new concept and artistry of ceramics, which is whatever an artist dares to create, is what I'm longing to convey at the exhibition, to the audience, the art circle and also the wider ceramics industry," Zhu says.

"Opening our eyes and mind to embrace international trends, and trying to implement a cross-disciplinary approach, that is how we can keep enlivening ceramic art and pushing it forward to the forefront of contemporary art."