ARTIST PROFILE
Through lifelong practice,
art and heritage enrich each other.
Zhao Kun is a ceramic sculptor and Jiangxi Master of Ceramic Art. A graduate of Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute and a student of Zhou Guozhen, she has developed a distinctive artistic voice through animal-themed sculpture.
Working with slab construction, she brings natural clay textures, traces of handwork and expressive lines into sculpture. The transformations of materials and kiln firing help her explore the relationship between traditional artistic sensibility and contemporary sculpture.
A 2024 CCTV.com feature on Jingdezhen heritage explored how Zhao observes animals and records their expressions. It described her use of different clays and high-temperature coloured glazes in a Chinese zodiac series. Care for nature and living beings is a recurring thread in her work.
The 2021 exhibition “Urban Creatures — Zhao Kun” in Wuhan presented over forty animal sculptures alongside porcelain-panel paintings. Works included “Mountain Spirit”, “Deer Call” and “Wolf Howl”, plus zodiac, penguin and polar bear series, reflecting her ongoing exploration of animals and emotion.
Sources & Further Reading
- Jiangxi Daily: Jingdezhen Ceramic Art Group Exhibition, Part 2 (Chinese)
- China Design Centre: Zhao Kun and Sculpture — Tradition and Innovation (Chinese)
- CCTV.com: Zhao Kun — Emotion and Care in Animal Sculpture (Chinese)
- The Paper: A Dialogue with Urban Creatures through Ceramic Sculpture (Chinese)
