CREDITS:
Illustration of Zhu Guanhai by Maria Chen
All Artwork © Zhu Guanhai
Artist work image credits
01. Downstairs In Winter, 2023 Size: 150*100 cm, photo by Daniel Browne
02. Guard (Site-specific graffiti at Greatorex St) Guards, 2024 Size: 270*265 cm
03. Guard detail
04. Waterfall, 2023, Size: 228*150 cm
05. Blue Giant, 2023, Size: 500*180 cm
06. Backyard Fire, 2022, Size: 238*168cm
07. Dragon detail
08. Gogo, 2024, Size: 91*88*89 cm
09. Gogo detail
10. Kids See Ghosts Sometimes, 2024, Size: 46*36 cm
11. Red Giant, 2024, Size: 200*150 cm21.
12. Typhoon Day, 2024, Size: 228*150 cm
13. Side Jump, 2023, Size: 119*84 cm
14. Giant, 2024, Size: 76*101 cm
15. Smooth Stab 01 02, 2023 Size: 30*40 x2 cm
16. River Fairy, 2024, Size: 200*150 cm
17. Blackfin, 2023, Size: 30*40 cm
18. Untitled, 2023, Size: 30*40 cm
19. Untitled, 2023, Size: 20*20 cm
CNTRFLD.ART chats with artist Zhu Guanhai, whose work intricately explores the concept of motion as a life force. Zhu’s innovative practice, deeply rooted in his Chinese heritage and cultural influences, transcends physical constraints to delve into the elasticity of space and time. His background in traditional Chinese philosophy informs his unique approach, blending historical insights with contemporary artistic methods. We explore his recent piece, Downstairs in Winter, showcased in TRA Collective’s Always container, sometimes contained exhibition, where he masterfully manipulates temporal and spatial dimensions. Zhu shares his artistic journey, the impact of his studies at Chelsea College of Arts and the Royal College of Art and offers advice to aspiring artists seeking to navigate and redefine the boundaries of their creative practices.
CNTRFLD. Can you tell us about your early experiences and background? How did your upbringing influence your journey into the arts?
ZG. I was born in China in 1999. At 12, I struggled to understand or find my place in the traditional education system, so I dropped out. Before returning to formal schooling, I spent three years studying on my own. During this period, reading, painting, and sports supported my mental and physical well-being. By practising these activities, I was slowly exploring my existence in the world. Those three years had a profound impact on me; they form the foundation, and the actual beginning of my extremely personal projects centred around the theme of 'motion'.
CNTRFLD. You’ve mentioned that motion is a central theme in your practice. Could you elaborate on how you define motion in your work and why it is so significant to you?
ZG. To me, understanding motion as a way of thinking—rather than just a concept—offers a clearer perspective, as perceived through a particular lens. Emphasising 'motion' is crucial to me because its sincere existence fosters natural trust. 'Motion' is the origin of all; the symbol of me living, the way of me learning, the method of me expressing. However, sometimes this focus on 'motion' leads to excessive attention to it as a central idea or theme in my work, which is not my intention.
CNTRFLD. Your recent piece, Downstairs in Winter, was part of the TRA Collective’s Always container, sometimes contained exhibition. How does this work reflect your exploration of spatialised time and its elasticity?
ZG. Working with TRA was a unique and exciting experience; it felt like being in four dimensions simultaneously. Downstairs in Winter was the first piece that truly brought the concept of ‘motion’ to life; it captures a frozen moment, compressing months of stories into one. The conventional rules of time and space often constrain my thinking, which can be exhausting. From my experience, the past, present, and future seem to converge in the same moment, with spatial locations acting as markers for this intertwining of time. Downstairs in Winter is a past happening in the present—a moment I wish I could relive. However, narrating the story piece by piece and detail by detail would dilute my respect for this moment and risk turning it into unnecessary self-indulgence. Instead, I chose to compress it into a single moment, much like Hiroshi Sugimoto’s theatre series, where he captures the essence of sliding time and relentless motion in a single frame.
“Before I fall asleep, there’s an absolute moment. I become the cold air surrounding my body, my vision stretches endlessly, and the sounds get amplified. I should be forgetting about myself, but my existence feels incredibly real and concrete.”
This paragraph comes from my diary, before I created the piece.
CNTRFLD. In your artistic practice, you describe motion as a life force and a way to escape physical constraints. How do you translate these abstract concepts into visual forms in your artwork?
ZG. When I first came to London to study fine art, the culture shock was immense. It made me reflect on my cultural background, self-identity, and personal experiences—things I had never considered seriously before. I began to delve into traditional Asian arts and discovered something truly fascinating: the creators of that era treated their art pieces as if they were living beings rather than mere objects. These artworks seemed to possess vibrant characters, with elements that constantly shifted and evolved, full of life. This dynamic quality is akin to my concept of 'motion', which involves moving paths and underlying flows. Imagine if the wind had a life of its own—what would that be like? This creative logic enriched my entire process, making it akin to observing someone’s actions as a child. Naturally, I incorporated this approach into both my work and my life. Once this logic is established, it transforms abstract concepts into vivid, practical images, making them both insightful and actionable.
CNTRFLD. Your approach to art often involves treating space and time as flexible constructs. Can you walk us through your process of creating a piece like Downstairs in Winter and how you manipulate these elements?
ZG. Conceptually, creating a piece like Downstairs in Winter begins with a specific experience, a story, or a moment I want to explore, learn from or simply share. Then I will ask myself two questions: How can I concentrate on that entire experience and long period in a single moment? And how to transform that moment into a rich and worth-reading story? Clearly, this requires me to capture so many memories to recreate the most sincere experience. It is personal, emotional, exactly like so-called the ‘absolute moment’ that was mentioned in my diary. I discover and redefine my relationship with the ‘thing’, while enjoying this process so much, akin to performing a precise and accurate surgery.
For Downstairs in Winter, the material being used is a type of handmade Asian cotton paper I’ve loved since studying Fine Art at Chelsea. Its properties and flexibility helped enhance the work’s emotional and experiential depth. The paper is extremely delicate and unforgiving; it requires meticulous adhesion to maintain balance, as any slight misalignment can lead to tearing. Unlike oil painting, where adjustments can be made through the application of paint, every mistake with this paper necessitates re-adhering and starting over. The material’s characteristics offer a secondary progression in my conceptual understanding, allowing me to physically engage with my attitude towards the piece.
CNTRFLD. How do cultural influences and your heritage play a role in your work? Are there specific traditions or experiences that have shaped your artistic vision?
ZG. China is a country that deeply carries historical marks; you can feel the weight of time here. As time progresses, the complexity of its development and the intertwining of human experiences are beyond verbal description. Growing up in such an environment, where I was acutely sensitive, has driven me to explore these relationships both actively and passively. Through a deeper study of traditional arts, I gradually developed a perspective on personalising things and narrating the extension of space and time, which is integral to my artistic ethos. However, the differences in cultural backgrounds and specialities that accompany this are not the key areas I want to explore; I view them as quietly underlying, supporting me on my journey, rather than becoming ‘me’.
CNTRFLD. You studied at both Chelsea College of Arts and the Royal College of Art. How have these institutions influenced your practice and understanding of art?
ZG. I studied two different majors at these colleges, and they had distinctly different impacts on me. At Chelsea, where I majored in Fine Art, my approach to creation underwent a huge transformation. Before that, I was obsessed with pursuing some form of objective truth, but Chelsea taught me to consider ‘me,’ ‘my,’ and ‘mine’ and their connections with their surroundings subjectively. It was like sitting casually in my own backyard. If Chelsea was the backyard, RCA was the living room. At RCA, where I majored in Curating Contemporary Art, the institution brought together creators from various fields into this so-called living room, fostering interaction. It taught me to process subjective or personal matters from a relatively objective perspective. As a result, you’ll often see me experimenting with different angles in my work.
CNTRFLD. You’ve said that your work is less conceptual and more about responding to your existence. Can you share how you approach creating a piece with this mindset and how it affects your final work?
ZG. For me, 'concept' is like a language, a tool, a way of thinking and acting, which I use to express my life. This mindset makes me not get bogged down in series or concepts; each piece marks a point in my journey. They have absolute independence and no longer need to rely on me, their creator.
CNTRFLD. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in the arts and is interested in exploring themes of motion and time in their own work?
ZG. Keep doing. Keep asking. Don’t get stuck on so-called trends and concepts. ‘Motion’ is such a fascinating idea, and it’s so much wider than the image that first jumps to your mind. Trust it.
CNTRFLD. Looking ahead, are there any new themes or concepts you’re excited to explore in your future works? How do you see your practice evolving over time?
ZG. Lately, I keep hearing a voice in my head saying, “It’s time for people to see giants!” I’m sorry that I can’t fully explain this yet.
Looking back at my previous works, I can see how they’ve evolved, which genuinely makes me happy. This will always be my driving force — not just seeing my pieces mature, but seeing them take on their missions, carry them forward, and eventually separate from me.
About Zhu Guanhai
Zhu Guanhai's art practice centres around the concept of motion, which he views as a life force—an endlessly continuous action liberated from the constraints of reality and linked to the conscious illusory. This narrative allows him to transcend physical forms and perceive the world uniquely. In his practice, motion transforms exploration and perception into vision and method. Within this framework, space and time possess elasticity; the past, present, and future become less sequential and can be rearranged like building blocks in a Jenga game. The underlying mechanism of playfulness holds equal significance in Zhu's understanding of motion, with both being primal impulses. His approach is less conceptual and more about embedding ideas as clues within each piece, interpreting the works as responses to his existence. His process is a journey rather than a series of isolated works, with each piece being traceable yet distinct. Zhu graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2023 and holds a BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts.
Presented as part of the Always container, sometimes contained show curated by TRA Collective, Zhu Guanhai’s Downstairs in Winter (2023) is a work on cotton paper using charcoal, oil pastels, and soft pastels. The piece illustrates the elasticity of space and time, demonstrating how the past, present, and future can be rearranged and assembled like building blocks in a Jenga game, exploring the concept of spatialised time across different dimensions and showcasing how time is distributed in space.
About TRA Collective
TRA Collective is a curatorial collective co-founded by Lanzehang (Lan) Ying and Haijia Blair Luo in 2023, both of whom are independent curators currently based in London. The prefix “TRA” signifies moving beyond and existing in between, capturing the essence of crossing boundaries and borders, and exploring the liminal spaces where new possibilities and perspectives can emerge. Their recent exhibitions include: ‘Always container, sometimes contained,’ Greatorex Street, London (2024); ‘Linger in Silence,’ Willesden Gallery, London (2023); ‘Night Boat,’ Fitzrovia Gallery, London (2023); ‘Invisible Recursion,’ M P Birla Millennium Art Gallery, London (2023).
