Fang
Zhou

Lacquer Artist and Interdisciplinary Visual Designer

Fang Zhou is a lacquer artist and interdisciplinary designer whose practice brings the traditions of Chinese lacquer craftsmanship into conversation with contemporary art and design. Inspired by childhood memories of lacquer, she is drawn to the material’s warmth, texture and cultural resonance. Through sculpture, installation, wearable art, furniture and tea vessels, she has developed a visual language that is both deeply rooted and distinctly contemporary.

Fang Zhou studied fine art at Central China Normal University before completing a Master of Arts in visual communication at the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts. Based primarily in Wuhan, she has worked across art and design, photography and art editing. These experiences shaped her ability to move between disciplines and ultimately led her to make natural lacquer the central medium of her practice.

For more than a decade, Fang Zhou has researched lacquer materials, surface treatments and traditional application techniques. Through sustained experimentation with different materials and three-dimensional forms, she has developed a personal approach that respects inherited craft knowledge while opening it to new artistic possibilities.

At a time when AI and industrial technologies are transforming creative production, Fang Zhou remains committed to making her work entirely by hand. For her, the subtle lustre and tactile warmth of natural lacquer cannot be separated from the human presence behind it. Every surface carries traces of time, touch and labour, as well as the cultural memory embedded in the material itself.

Drawing on Eastern philosophy and Chinese cultural traditions, Fang Zhou takes lacquer beyond its established forms and functions. Her work combines conceptual depth with fluid forms and a contemporary sensibility informed by fashion and design. Whether working with objects, installations or the body, she explores how this ancient material can find new forms of expression and remain relevant to contemporary life.

Fang Zhou’s work has been presented by major art institutions in China and on international platforms dedicated to contemporary craft. It has attracted collectors in China and abroad, while receiving coverage from CCTV-3, Nouvelles d’Europe, ART.ZIP and Hubei Television. She has been interviewed by China Guardian and Rong Bao Zhai, and her work has appeared on the covers of fashion publications. She was also invited to restore cultural objects at the Hubei Provincial Museum.

Selected presentations include London Craft Week, Guardian’s tenth-anniversary exhibition, the opening runway show of Shanghai Fashion Week, and an exhibition in Paris celebrating International Tea Day and the sixtieth anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France. One of Fang Zhou’s works was presented by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an official gift.

In collaboration with ANTA, Fang Zhou created the Yima Zizai shoe, the brand’s first footwear design to incorporate natural lacquer. Her work is also held in the collection of the China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou.