Zhuang Hong Yi | Tides of Folded Light: London

Simonida Pavicevic:

Your work has become instantly recognisable for its sculptural surfaces and extraordinary relationship with colour. When you look back at your practice, what do you feel has remained constant throughout your career?

Zhuang Hong-yi:

I think the constant has always been transformation. Even in my earliest works, I was interested in how a material could evolve emotionally and physically. Paper, for example, seems fragile and quiet at first, but when repeated thousands of times, folded, painted, layered and shaped, it becomes architectural and almost alive.

I am also continuously searching for balance between the East and West, between discipline and spontaneity, tradition and experimentation.  Having grown up in China and later living in Europe for over three decades, I naturally exist between these worlds. That duality is present in every work I create.

Simonida Pavicevic:

Your signature floral compositions feel simultaneously minimal and deeply emotional. What first drew you to the flower as a recurring visual language?

Zhuang Hong-yi:

The flower carries many meanings across cultures. In Chinese tradition, flowers can symbolise prosperity, renewal, beauty, impermanence or meditation. In Europe and the US, they often represent romance and emotion. I was interested in creating a universal language through them to share this message of positivity and happiness with people around the world regardless of their background.

But I never wanted the flower to be decorative in a traditional sense. I wanted it to become a structure, rhythm and movement. When thousands of folded elements come together, the work stops being about a single flower and becomes more like a landscape or a living ecosystem. I always feel that there is also something meditative in repetition. Folding paper thousands of times is a very physical and almost spiritual process.

Simonida Pavicevic:

Materiality is central to your practice. Your works occupy a space somewhere between painting, sculpture and installation. Was this hybridity intentional?

Zhuang Hong-yi:

Yes, very much so. I never felt comfortable limiting myself to one category. Traditional painting often felt too flat for the ideas I wanted to express, while sculpture alone did not allow me the same dialogue with colour, movement, and atmosphere.

The moment I began folding rice paper and building surfaces outward from the canvas, I realised I could create something more immersive. The work changes depending on where the viewer stands. Colour shifts, shadows appear and disappear, textures become fluid. I enjoy this instability because life itself is never static.

Simonida Pavicevic:

Colour in your work behaves almost like light. It changes constantly as the viewer moves around the piece. How do you approach colour composition?

Zhuang Hong-yi:

Colour is emotional energy, so I often think about colour the way a composer thinks about music. There must be rhythm, tension, silence and harmony. 

I am fascinated by gradients because they represent transition. Nature rarely exists in a single tone. The sky, flowers, water, seasons and even human emotion are always shifting throughout the seasons. My color-changing technique allowed me to create these transitions in a very fluid way. Depending on perspective, the work reveals different chromatic experiences, so the viewer becomes part of the art.

Simonida Pavicevic:

Your work often evokes nature, but not in a literal sense. There is an abstraction that feels almost atmospheric or spiritual.

Zhuang Hong-yi:

I am inspired by nature emotionally rather than descriptively. I am not trying to paint a flower or recreate a garden. I am interested in growth, energy, impermanence and movement.

In Chinese philosophy there is a strong awareness of balance and flow, the idea that everything is in constant transformation. I think this naturally influences how I compose space and texture. The works are built from thousands of individual parts, but together they become something organic and continuous. 

Simonida Pavicevic:

Over the past decade your career has evolved internationally, with exhibitions across Europe, Asia and the United States. How has this global dialogue influenced your work?

Zhuang Hong-yi:

Travel and cultural exchange have been extremely important. Different audiences respond to my work in different ways. Some focus on technique, others on colour, others on symbolism or emotion. Living in the Netherlands also changed my perspective significantly. Dutch design, art, and architecture have a strong relationship with clarity, space and experimentation. That influenced my understanding of minimalism and composition. At the same time, I have remained deeply connected to my Chinese roots. I think my practice exists because of this combination rather than despite it.

Simonida Pavicevic:

There is an extraordinary sense of precision in your works, yet they never feel rigid. How do you maintain that balance between control and spontaneity?

Zhuang Hong-yi:

The structure is controlled, but the experience must remain emotional. I plan compositions carefully, but I also allow intuition to guide many decisions, especially with colour. The physical process itself introduces unpredictability. Paper reacts differently every time. Light changes everything. Shadows create their own compositions. I try to leave space for these moments because they bring life into the work. Perfection is not interesting to me if it feels static. I prefer tension, spontaneity, and movement.

Simonida Pavicevic:

Your works have become highly sought after by collectors globally. What do you hope people feel when living with your work over time?

Zhuang Hong-yi:

I hope the work continues to reveal itself slowly. Because of the dimensionality and changing colour, the experience evolves throughout the day and across seasons. Morning light creates a different atmosphere from evening light. 

For me, art should not only be observed intellectually. It should affect the space and the viewer emotionally. I want the works to bring a sense of energy, happiness, calm and contemplation into people’s lives. I am often moved when collectors tell me that even years later, walking by one of my flowerbeds each morning still brings them that same surge of energy they felt the first day. Bringing that lasting positivity into people’s lives is my greatest motivation.

Simonida Pavicevic:

Finally, after so many years of practice, what still excites you most as an artist?

Zhuang Hong-yi:

Possibility. Every new work begins with uncertainty, and I think that is essential. I am still searching, still experimenting and still learning from materials. Art should remain alive. The moment you become too comfortable, the work loses its energy. I still feel curious every day in daily life and in my studio, and that curiosity continues to push my practice forward. Even the smallest details in life can be so beautiful, if you just look close enough.