Zhenhai He

Nanning, China

Zhenhai He  graduated in 1985 from the Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute (B.A.) and in 1988 from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts (M.F.A.). His work, influenced by temple architecture, has been shown in over fifty invitational exhibitions in China and abroad. A sculptor who works primarily in steel, wood and clay, He is sought after to create monumental public works. He has been a visiting artist the Goethe Institute in Munich, Germany; West Virginia University; Tsinghua University; New Zealand Chinese Society; and the City of Cincinnati. In 2014, He was one of 15 artists chosen internationally to participate in a month-long monumental granite-sculpting exhibition in Taiwan. Currently, Professor He is the Director of the Sculpture program at the GuangXi Arts Institute.

Artist Statement

I’m deeply attracted to the structure of the wood building style, it’s frame and mortise structure. In my creation process, the local and traditional wood railing from these structures are used in a sort of primitive, yet atmospheric appropriation. Somewhere between tradition and modernity, and deconstruction and construction, a recent series of works reflects these structural composite concepts. My interpretation of the form of traditional wooden architecture, explores a new context for both traditional and contemporary sculpture.