ZHUO Qi

The Chinese-born ceramist Qi Zhuo plays with words and misunderstandings, and in this semantic shift, invents unusual objects that explore the limits of the material and the original meaning. In a dynamic of recomposition, he destroys to create. New forms are born where ideas meet.

For her Jarstice series – a contraction of the English words jar and justice – the artist has used the traditional techniques and forms of Chinese ceramics. The paradox between the obvious violence of the projectile contrasts with its symbolism: the weight, that of a scale of Justice, pierces and marks durably while sublimating the ceramic with golden shards.

In his series “I lit a vase” Qi Zhuo brings together two techniques that are antagonistic, to say the least. Fine ceramics and firecrackers are both linked to fire, one is frozen in a thousand-year-old quietude while the other generates noise and light on the occasion of festivals.

Artist statement :

“A “Misunderstanding” becomes a multicultural way of thinking. Communication that starts with a “misunderstanding” creates more meaning than can be fully understood. This is a richness for me. Being on a border between two cultures, I too am a “misunderstood”. I would like to develop a project on this “misunderstanding”.

In the French language there are many words whose pronunciation resembles Chinese words. For example, the word “vase” has the same pronunciation as the word “sock” in Chinese. “Loup”(wolf)  is “deer” in Chinese.
I wonder how a sock becomes a vase. I try to assemble the different objects to create another one in sculptural language.”