Interviews with Zona Yuechen Guan

I want viewers to experience the passage of time when they look at my sculptures through the ice melting. I think that time is more like a concept. It is something we know but can't touch in person. It is precious, and everyone can only pass through the time once. So, I hope people can think about time through my work and bury the seeds of the belief to cherish and live in the moment.

My instructor Olga Mezhibovskaya inspired me a lot. She is an interdisciplinary artist, and the way she teaches students is exceptional. She never limits students' imagination and expression, and she encourages us to experiment with different materials and forms. She leads us to integrate different disciplines. So, I will observe and perceive everything happening around me, think and try to express my ideas with some unique materials.

Physically: Water, Fridge, Silicon, Wood, Paper, Fabric

Digitally: Photoshop, Indesign

My typographic sculptures are made with ice; they will start melting at the moment when they leave the fridge. So, I need to keep a low-temperature environment when I bring them to the group discussion. It was also a bit challenging when I wanted to stand the sculptures up. Because the bottom facade of the letters T and I are more minor, especially the top of the T is larger than the bottom, it is not easy to maintain balance. When I want to get all four letter sculptures up, it's hard to get them all up simultaneously.

I received the invitation to nominate.

Traditional Chinese dance led me to the art world I was about two and a half years old. It was the first artistic skill I learned and last for around 13 years. When I was about 6 years old, I studied playing the Gu-zheng, which is a kind of traditional Chinese musical instrument, for about 10 years. I went to the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York for college and graduate school. I studied design and photography at SVA because I want to find ways to visualize my thoughts and ideas in my mind.

For me, "design" is a way that makes the world a better place, and it's a path to bring ideas and thoughts to life.

As long as I can express my concept and idea, I am open to any kinds of media.

It depends—currently, photography.

Depends on the project and topic.

I would be proud of myself and get ready for the next journey.

Whether it influences anyone or makes the viewers start thinking about the topic.

The question is a bit disrespectful. Not gonna answer.

Being a designer is being professional in making art that you are already used to thinking in an artistic way, and being creative is a part of your thinking process. You should know the rules, but never limit yourself to those rules. We now live in an environment with modern technologies. Everything is spreading at an unimaginable speed. Artworks influence countless people who can see them while we don’t even know. Therefore, as a designer, you need to consider the impressions and consequences of your work. Being a designer is not a permanent trait. It’s an internal growth journey. To be a designer not only means that you have incredible skills and techniques for creating art but also means you are ready to take on this social responsibility while you are using art as a way to express yourself.

Design is becoming more inclusive. Different fields and technologies can intersect with design and develop new research directions. So interdisciplinary design will be the future direction of development.

My last group exhibition called Le Radici dell'Arte in December 2022 in Brooklyn, New York. I am planning my next show in early 2023.

From nature and life.

I lived in Shanghai for about 20 years, but currently, I am based in New York. Both cities are international and inclusive, which influenced me a lot, that I am open to any media to help me fulfill my concept.

Lighting, Camera, Mac, Wacom, White Wall

Please never limit yourself and make yourself boring. Always be open to trying something new. Be proud and confident in your work.

Everyone has preferences, and there will always be good and bad comments. You can't influence what other people think. You hear everything, but don't listen to everything.

MacBook, Adobe Creative Suite, iPad, Wacom Tablet, Camera, etc.

I would step out everything to do and make a basic structure of timeline when starting the project. I will leave a bit extra time for each step and fix up the detailed schedule during the process.

Depending on the project.

Can you draw a picture for me?

All. Every experience made me who I am.

It really depends. Recently, I prefer photography-based work because I like the feeling of freezing time when I take photos.

I've tried both, depending on the project.

Please go to my website zonaguan.com and email me.