Karen Zhou
compositions
fragments
vessels
interiors
beginnings
about
library
Karen Zhou is a Chinese-American artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work explores transformation and connection, grounded in the belief that all things come from one essential energy. Raised across Connecticut, Belgium, North Carolina, Hong Kong, and Arizona, she brings cross-cultural references to her practice. She is a self-taught artist with a BSc in Mathematics, BSc in Economics, and Minor in Architecture from MIT. Her work has been exhibited at Patton-Malott Gallery (Colorado), A.I.R. Gallery (New York), Powerhouse Arts (New York), and Clayworks (New York). She has participated in residencies and workshops at Anderson Ranch (Colorado), Arcosanti (Arizona), Pocoapoco (Mexico), and Domaine de Boisbuchet (France).
My art is rooted in the belief of one universal energy that is the source of all things—mineral, body, plant, mountain, breath. This primordial force moves through and connects us, eternally shifting from one form to the next. I follow this thread like a memory, working in clay to reclaim a truth that feels both ancient and alive.
I look across centuries and cultures for stories that speak to this belief, that bind our flesh with the earth—Taoist cosmologies, Indigenous myths, contemporary fiction. I’m drawn to moments of transformation, to the soft boundaries where that energy slips one skin for another—a heart ripening into a strawberry, a seed giving rise to horse giving rise to man. These images take root in my hands as I begin to build.
I work with clay for its own suggestable plasticity and its legacy as ancient material. I coil volumes and press reliefs against molds cast from objects chosen for their symbolic weight. As forms emerge, some are given the armor of glaze, others remain fragile canvases washed in watercolor and paint. Some works stand alone. Others gather and become altars, constellations, and gestures toward a dream slowly being remembered. They ask you to notice what’s beyond the visible, to feel the resonance of something ancient returning—like breath held in stone.
Through this work, I am reminded: nothing is fixed. Everything changes. Everything returns.