ARTIST BIO
YIYAN ZHOU
Yiyan Zhou is an award-winning artist whose multi-disciplinary creations range from delicate sculptures which bring porcelain and metal together to intricate ink drawings on paper. Originally from Eastern China, Yiyan studied Art and Design at Shanghai Normal University. In 2007, she left her life behind in Shanghai to follow her dreams of creation and study Photography and Fashion at Studio Berçot. From working in graphic design to high fashion, Yiyan started making her own creations in 2015. Since then, her work has been acclaimed for her beautiful and unique designs and won the national prize of the Young Creative Craftsworker’s Award by the Ateliers d’Art de France in 2015. She has been invited to exhibit in the most prestigious Parisian institutions including the Carrousel du Louvre, the Grand Palais and Galerie 12 Drouot. Her work is regularly showcased in well-known events such as the Milan Design Week in 2016 and the Venice Biennale and as the guest of honour of the Biennale of Jewellers Creators in 2017.
In her studio on her boat in Paris, Yiyan lets us into her world rocked by the peaceful waves of the Seine and surrounded by nature. There, far from the noise of the city and from her years in high fashion, she gathers her thoughts and picks up her tools bringing the innate clay to life. Her search for mastery leads her to leave the boat for months to learn from France’s best artisans. For Yiyan, the creation process is an entangled dance in which both the artist and the creation shape each other and for a short period of time, they become one. Escaping space and time, the purity of her lines encapsulates the memory of this moment of pure creation.
Through the compelling rawness of her art, Yiyan calls into question the relationships between humans, nature and our modern society and shapes a kinder world where weaknesses become strengths and differences become complementary.
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Education | BA Art & Design, Shanghai Normal University; MA Photography & Fashion Design, Studio Berçot
Awards | Guest of Honour at the Biennial of Jewellers Creators (France), 2017; National Prize of the Young Creative Craftworker’s Award by the Ateliers d’Art de France, 2015
Featured | Ateliers d'Art; Ode A La beauté, 2020; Prix de la Jeune Création Métiers d'Art, 2016; Art Daily, 2016; BFM Business, 2016; Blouin Art Info, 2016; Alain R Truong, 2016; The French Jewelry Post, 2016; ASVOF, 2015; Chine - Europe, 2016; Femme Magazine, 2016; French People CN, 2016; Preziosa, 2016
Solo Exhibitions | Joseph Déchelette Museum of Fine Arts (Roanne), 2017; "Cercle" with MiniMasterpiece gallery (Paris & New York), 2015
Group Exhibitions | [INSERT FEELING HERE] (London), 2020; Révélations at the Grand Palais (Paris), 2017; Galerie 12 Drouot (Paris), 2016; Carroussel du Louvres (Paris), 2016; Peninsula Hotel by the "Mouvement Moderne" gallery (Paris), 2016; Milan Design Week (Milan), 2016