Mo Zhou

Born in 1990 in Xuanhua, Hebei,
Graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology at Friedrich-Alexander University (FAU) Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

A “self-taught” painter who has lived in Europe for over a decade, holding a Ph.D. in Philosophy from FAU Nuremberg and working as a German-Chinese translator. Currently, I am engaged in translating literary works, creating picture books, and producing easel paintings. In my art, I attempt to express human gestures, emotions, sensations, and memories through the imagery of trees, using them as a medium to reflect my thoughts on philosophy, sociology, psychology, religion, and mythology. I strip the image of the tree from its biological characteristics: it loses its canopy and roots, appearing in vibrant colors, and coexists with elements like clouds, wind, fire, and water. The tree transcends its “in-itself” form, becoming a hollow symbol and vessel into which I pour my self-expression, transforming it into a “for-itself” existence.