10 Questions with Qi Zhuang

Qi Zhuang (1999, China) is an interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and animator based in London, United Kingdom. She received her B.A. in Illustration Animation from Kingston University in 2021 with a First Class Honours. Now studying at the Royal College of Art (RCA), her works are influenced by Buddhism, phenomenology, and symbolism, experiencing abstract cosmological ideas through intimate materialist ways with objects, sounds, and body language. Her previous projects shift across 2D animation, 3D animation, video, performance, and installation.

qizhuangstudio.com | @qizhuang.cn

ARTIST STATEMENT

“All conditioned phenomena

Are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow,

Like dew or a flash of lightning;

Thus we shall perceive them.”

Influenced by the Diamond Sutra, Qi is fascinated by the contradictions and the poetics contained in dreams and the desire to awaken. Dreams are not real, but only in dreams do we have a chance to wake up. She uses metaphor-filled symbols and surreal tones to construct a period of time when reality and fantasy coexist.

Qi has collaborated with sound artists, dancers, costume designers, scientists, photographers, and animators and is keen to explore various materials. As she collaborates with experts in different fields, her perspective often shifts between science, sociology, and performing arts, leading her to new ways of seeing.

Qi’s works have been exhibited in Russia, Singapore, the U.S., the U.K., India, and China. As a researcher, her autobiographical essay “World, Symbol, Gaze” is archived in the RCA library.

INTERVIEW

You work with different mediums and disciplines. Tell us a little about your background and how you developed into the artist, you are today.

At the age of 17, I moved to the UK and received seven years of art and design education. In the UK, it is important for artists to have critical thinking, which allows me to think as an independent individual. However, at the age of 20, I gained a deeper understanding of Buddhism and Tibetan culture, and I deeply felt the collision of the two cultures within me - as an artist, I was thinking, creating, and criticizing from an individual point of view, but Buddhism taught me that: nothing is so-called "me," and everything is just illusions. These contradictions that I have created have become the main topics of my exploration.

How would you define yourself as an artist nowadays? And how did your art evolve over the years?

I prefer to call myself a creator rather than an artist. In China, artist is a grand title, but I think no matter who we are, we are all creators by nature. In my creative process in recent years, I usually rely a lot on conditions, which also makes me almost free of attachment to creative materials. Whatever is around me, I take it and create with it; whoever I bump into and what sparks arise, I work together.

As an interdisciplinary artist, how do you work on a new project? How do you choose which medium to use, and how do you go from the first idea to the outcome?

As a director and animator, the skill of co-ordinating a team seems to be a necessity. In the early stages of a project, I would discuss and watch ideas take shape with my team members. For the 未知晓 Unknown project, we had a total of three meetings where the team members would each conceptualize what they were good at, and all I had to do was to see everyone's strengths and play to them. They usually specialize in different mediums, such as music, body movement, costumes, and so on. I always believe that art is inextricably linked to the artist's own temperament, and instead of having too many preconceived ideas and limitations on the style of the finished product before it is finalized, I watch it unfold as the team works on it.

What are the main themes behind your work? And what messages would you like to convey to the viewers?

I always ask myself questions: what is the nature of the world? What is my relationship with the world? I have always wondered whether there is a dualism regarding dream and reality, such as the theme of my dissertation on the concept of Māyā in Hinduism: the veil that covers truth is truth itself. In the case of cinema, it is undoubtedly a vessel of illusion, but it may also be a vessel of truth.

What aspect of your work do you pay particular attention to?

I am concerned with the sense of impact that the visuals bring to people, how the semiotics and the emotions in the work merge, and how best to get people to think about the themes behind them. For example, in the visual short film of my work 未知晓 Unknown, where the dancers are shown with the various nature clips we filmed, one audience later said that the face of a cow that appeared in the video somehow stuck in his mind. I think sincere images hit home the most.

In your statement, you mention the Diamond Sutra. How does it influence your work?

The theme of my work has always been Emptiness, the core of Buddhism. This is something that is difficult to describe in words, so I choose to interpret it in a roundabout way. Of course, I should not guarantee that what I express is perfect, but I will try my best. I think that realizing that the world we live in is an illusion is a possibility for us to move toward freedom.

You also mention collaborating with other professionals to create your projects. What have you learned from these collaborations? And how did they help you with your practice?

In the process of collaborating with people from different fields, not only does my expertise expand, which satisfies my curiosity, but more importantly, I look for more possibilities in art. In my past work, Birth, I collaborated with scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to create a short film that combines documentary and sci-fi rituals, using dance and performance art to discuss the possibilities of unisexual reproduction in mammals. At a screening in London, most of my audience thought they hadn't seen a similar combination of art and science before, and I think it provided them with a novel entry point to get interested in something they hadn't been exposed to before.

We witnessed many changes in the art world and, more generally, in our society in the past few years, from the pandemic to the Crypto markets and beyond. Did you find any positive change in people's approach to art now?

Honestly, I do not know much about NFT art, but from what I've heard from young artists around me, they believe that the Crypto markets build a paradise for artists and the community and hold the promise of good art.

Are you working on any new project right now? Any exciting project or collaboration you would like to share with our readers?

Yes, I've just now finished creating my first ever 3D animated short film, exhibiting at the Animex Awards, Yorkshire, on 6 November. This time I've collaborated with London-based musician and sound artist Asher Yang, who has fused my grandmother's traditional Chinese Opera singing into experimental music to accompany the visuals I have created with UE5 and Blender. 3D software is new to me, but mastering it has enriched my choice of medium. Nowadays, the language of 3D software is very monolithic, and what you create with a specific piece of software can easily become the same as everyone else's if you don't add a nudge of detail. The work was exhibited at the Truman Brewery in London on 13 July.

Finally, what are your plans for the future? What do you think (and wish) the future holds for us?

I will continue to study in the field of 3D animation to the point where I will eventually be able to combine it with everything I have learned and create my own art language. Through continued learning and experiences, both residency programs and personal experiences, I hope to become an accomplished art creator and continue to make with sincerity. I hope I can maintain my passion for art.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.