For his exhibition 0.06.49 at gallery@oxo in London, 

Meng Zhou created works in various media

—sculpture, ink drawings, installation and video—

centering on his fascination with the silkworm and the metaphor of the cocoon for wider society,

especially in his native China.

A student keen to push his practice further,

this quietly spoken, self-professedly shy artist is definitely one to watch.

Written by Anna McNay.

Meng Zhou, Portrait

You have studied both Fashion Design and Painting. 

Now you are studying Moving Image.

Your gallery@oxo exhibition incorporates film, sound, installation, sculpture and ink drawings.

How would you describe your practice overall?

All the different media, all the creative forms, are the language with which I realize my thought.

I have never limited my practice boundaries.

Whenever I want to expand a specific idea, I find the right language to use.

I like to explore ideas in many creative ways.

And where do these ideas and inspirations come from?

From the phenomena of nature, engaging with my feelings,

living a long way from home, my previous practice or sometimes simply modern existence.

You mention phenomena of nature.

The title of your show, 0.06.49,

is related to the average amount of time it takes for a silkworm to break free of its cocoon.

Why this fascination with silkworms?

Yes, it is. I have this habit of keeping figures,

studying and recording different numerical data in my notebooks.

The amount of time it takes for silkworms to break free of their cocoons is more specific,

interesting and yes, it often provoked some ideas in me.

Silkworms are attached to their silk clothes, one thread leads to another,

their blood traces are embedded in their clothes.

All these interest me.

My family's business was a spinning factory,

so when I was young, I used to keep silkworms.

I have always been obsessed with these bugs.

I think the characteristics of the silkworm can be a different life stage.

IF 2

Liquid Acrylic on Paper

61x46 cm

 2016

One of your ink drawings here seems to be of a silkworm

that has itself morphed into a cocoon. 

Does it symbolize something specific?

Silkworms try so hard to restrict the media in which I work.

I like to create a form, certain idea, for people to perform within.

Everyone has their own way of understanding a performance.

I create media for these forms and for people to choose from.

Thereby various possibilities are opened up.

VVS 2

Liquid Acrylic on Paper

61x46 cm

 2016

Does this fluidity and diversity allow you to mediate

between all the different cultures in which you have lived?

Yes, indeed. Some of my practice has been developed

in collaboration with performers from Pina Bausch's company.

Last year I was in London.

I spent a lot of time following these dancers' performances

and Pina Bausch's work in the Tanztheater in Wuppertal, Germany (where Bausch had been).

I even learned some contemporary dance myself:

I find Pina is a figure who reappears and inspires my work every once in a while.

Dance is very hard to capture on paper;

it contains such tiny details.

You’re never sure when to freeze a moment or take a picture

because it’s about the act of happening, I like to remind myself the feeling of the performance.

I am good at remembering what the dancers are doing

and translating their movement energy afterwards.

I think this relates to my previous fashion practice work.

I learned how to observe the details, not models.

I have also benefited from my dance background to experiment with my new practice.

You can never get rid of your past.

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Liquid Acrylic on Paper

61x46 cm

 2016

Did you want to be a fashion designer when you were growing up?

No, I began studying a science-related foundation course in California

but I wasn’t satisfied and I wanted to apply for something more creative,

so I joined the Pratt Institute to study Fashion Design.

Then I figured out I only liked drawing and didn’t like sewing at all!

The most important thing to figure out when I am doing, is to be myself in my work.

All the different forms I use have this poetic Chinese rhythm flowing through them,

so I just try to let it flow naturally.

The catalogues of your last show in Wuppertal looked like the ones in the Tanztheater.

Yes, we put a lot of thought into the catalogues,

even though it was a last-minute decision to make one.

The cover material was chosen from some special fabric.

I think today, when you are able to access such huge and historical online archives,

you no longer need a big manual, you have a different level of attachment to a hard object.

That’s why I wanted to select papers and textures to match the show.

What are you working on next?

I want to focus on experimenting with how to present the video works.

But, with my sculptures, drawings and videos, the drawings are my last resort,

since it’s the easiest way to show my ideas.

I’m going to just keep on with my drawing practice alongside other ways

and keep thinking about breaking out of this small picture size into oils or some other material.

I’m still exploring.