Zhuang Hong-yi: Eternal Blossom
In literary and artistic translation, discovering writers, artists, and their works is a large part of what motivates and sustains me.
As we inch towards the start of summer, what could be more fitting than a floral-themed art exhibition? 🪻🌷🌺
The works of Sichuan-born artist Zhuang Hong-yi 庄红艺 are currently on display at London’s House of Fine Art until 6 August…
HOFA Viewing Room: Zhuang Hong-yi’s “Eternal Bloom“
…and I’m sharing my translation of a short piece from Chinese digital news site The Paper (aka Pengpai News) from earlier this year, in which Zhuang was featured.
(See also: Zhuang Hong-yi’s biography, in English & Chinese.)
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Excerpts translated from Chinese by Matthew S. McKay. Original article published in The Paper news on 13 January 2025.
Weekly artist spotlight | Something is rotten in the kingdom of Kengo; Young artists pursue diversity
By Huang Song and Lu Linhan, The Paper
Among this week’s notable figures in the art world is renowned architect Kengo Kuma, best known for his wooden structures. He has come under fire recently after Japanese media revealed that some of his structures developed mould and rot shortly after completion. The costly structures are now facing huge renovation expenses, prompting the Japanese public to reflect on the concepts underlying Kengo’s architectural design.
In Shanghai, the group exhibition Little Landscapes is presenting distinctive works on paper by three young artists – Li Tao, Ye Fan, and Yang Yi. Zhu Song and Song Decheng, both born in the 1980s and graduates of the China Academy of Art’s Chinese Painting Department, are also featured: one using exquisite brushwork to express his love for every flower and bird in nature, the other day after day reproducing the devotion inherent in temple murals and faith. And finally, Zhuang Hongyi, an artist born in the 1960s, uses paper flowers to conjure up a different kind of beauty.
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Shanghai | Zhuang Hong-yi
Presenting an exhibition rich in textures and colours
On 10 January, Zhuang Hong-yi’s solo exhibition Kaleidoscope opened at the Powerlong Art Museum in Shanghai, presenting more than 80 works spanning different periods and stages of his career, and inviting visitors into a space brimming with texture and colour.
Born in 1962 in China’s Sichuan province, Zhuang currently resides in Switzerland and works in Beijing. He is known for his intricate use of paper flowers in tactile landscapes and flower beds, and in his work, he pays homage to the beauty of Chinese traditions while reinterpreting them and creating a distinctive personal style.
In his hands, paper petals come to embody both the possibility of impermanence and change, and the hopeful resilience of nature: a tribute to the past and a wish for our shared future. His art attempts to capture an emotional realm that transcends the strictures and structures of language and culture and, through the rhythmic compositions on display, touches an emotionally resonant chord deep within us. To view Kaleidoscope is to be influenced and inspired by the possibilities of change inherent in colours, movements, and forms.
It is Zhuang’s hope that viewers will participate in the exhibition and enter into a dialogue with the works. “A sense of movement and fluidity breathes life into each work,” he says. “My wish is for my art to be a celebration of the eternal rhythms of nature. Through this exhibition, I hope to offer moments of contemplation and delight, inviting each viewer to find their own subtle connection with the natural world and the beauty of exotic flowers in their natural setting.” (– L.L.)
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This post originally uses English and Simplified Chinese. Versions of it in other languages may have been automatically translated unless stated otherwise.
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