Fan Zhou

The final light and shadow effect of the artwork

Fan is a textile designer exploring the field of artistic healing and self-expression. She uses fabrics as a tool and medium for linking the world. Cotton, linen, silk and wool are traditional textile materials that help people get in touch with the real world. Their texture is diverse and fascinating. She considers the process of making textiles as a meditative one.

In the process of embroidering or weaving, it is as if she and the materials are the only ones in the world and can block out anxiety and worry.When fan was unsettled by unfamiliar surroundings, she liked to ease her anxiety by doing some crafts in her own space, creating a pleasant and secure environment with fabrics.

During her studies at the RCA, she experimented with keeping an emotional diary and has been exploring how weaving can be applied to the art therapy. fan believes that fabrics heal her emotions and that the emotional connection she creates with them is like that of a friend.

As well as healing herself, Fan hopes to introduce the medium of fabric to bring healing to everyone.

When I feel anxious, I like to go and sit in the park for a while on a nice day and sit quietly, observing everything in the park. When I slow down, all the details in nature are magnified and the shadows swaying in the wind catch my attention.

In the famous cave theory of Plato, the people in the cave take the projections as if they were real things. It is only by stepping out of the cave that we can see the real world. And only by seeing the real world can we realize that what we see in the cave is only a projection of what is real.

It is as if the shadow is a metaphor given to me by nature, which is telling me about the world and the existence of nature. Through my exploration of light and shadow, I hope to strengthen my connection and perception of the world.

When we see a shadow, it means that there must be light behind it. When we turn around to find out what creates the shadow, when we go in search of the light source, that is when we come out of the cave.

I observe and record my surroundings from a 360 degree perspective. The chaotic and complicated world, with its interlocking and overlapping flowers and branches, forms my impression of the current environment. As it was springtime, everything had the vitality to grow. My impression of space and time is influenced by my emotions and state of mind at the time. I express it through images. So as I look at the world, I am also looking at myself. The images and colour preferences I express are a mapping of the self.

The process of transforming shadows from 2D forms to 3D is done with the help of software called glitche, which helps me to find and observe the environment around shadows.

Fan Zhou

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Royal College of Art