Words Edel Cassidy
Beijing-based artist Zheng Lu has built a reputation for creating gravity-defying sculptures that appear to suspend time. Drawing on Chinese philosophy, literature and calligraphy, his works capture fleeting moments of movement – the arc of a splash, the curl of a wave, the surge of a dragon in flight – and render them permanent. His art inhabits a space between motion and stillness, weight and weightlessness, appearing to ripple like water while gravity seems temporarily suspended.
The philosophy of stillness and motion
At the heart of Zheng Lu’s practice is a deep engagement with Chinese thought, particularly the interplay between permanence and transience. The Water in Dripping series, one of his most iconic collections, is built around the Chinese character 止 (zhǐ), meaning ‘stillness’ or ‘to stop’. In ancient script, the character resembles a foot, suggesting both movement and arrival. This duality fascinates Lu, who explores how stillness contains the memory of motion.
As he explains, early Chinese philosophy often used natural metaphors to convey profound truths. Water, in particular, served as a mirror for self-reflection, but only when still. The ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi’s analogy of water as a reflective surface resonates in Lu’s work, where polished steel pieces mimic the fluidity of liquids while defying their impermanence.
The work Drifting Dust reimagines the relationship between sand and sea and is a narrative of the reversal of the natural order of subject and object. Waves were originally the shapers of sand, and tidal movements inscribed their mark along the coastline. Zheng reverses that process: sand itself is used to reconstruct the waves, transforming the created into the creator. In doing so, he stages a symbolic theatre of inversion, where nature’s roles are unsettled and redefined.
Collaboration
A notable recent work is Xingyun, The Flowing Dragon, created in collaboration with the French silverware brand Christofle to mark the Year of the Dragon. Here, Lu merges two enduring motifs from Chinese culture: the dragon, a symbol of transformation, strength and nobility, and water, with its associations of continuity and change.
Forged in silver, the piece embodies both elegance and energy, its sinuous form suggesting the flow of great rivers such as the Yangtze and the Yellow. By merging the symbolic energy of the dragon with the flowing qualities of water, Zheng creates a work that bridges tradition and innovation, echoing his broader practice of uniting ancient philosophy with contemporary technique.
Sculpting a legacy
Zheng Lu’s sculptures are more than aesthetic marvels; they are meditations on time, culture and the forces that shape our world. Whether through the stillness of water, the grandeur of imagined monuments, or the dynamism of mythic creatures, his work invites viewers to pause and then to see the movement hidden within the pause.
Zheng Lu was born in Inner Mongolia in 1978 and now lives in Beijing. He began his artistic training at the Lu Xun Fine Art Academy before further honing his skills at the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Early in his career, he won the LVMH Prize, which led to further training at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Since his first solo exhibition in Beijing in 2009, he has presented his work widely across China and internationally, with exhibitions in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei and beyond.
- ‘The sculptural world of Zheng Lu’ is published in Anthology Volume 24. Read more features from this volume or buy it now.
- Browse more in arts.
- If you were inspired by this feature, we’d love it if you would share it!