Meet Ji Zou | Painter and multimedia artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ji Zou and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ji, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
Meditation helps me with my overall life and happiness. Sometimes, when I’m stressed, I feel an urge to procrastinate, dissociate and do things like doom scroll or binge a show or play games. I mean, if I’m being honest, I still do all of those things but often those activities leave me less focused, distracted, and more stressed and anxious before. I hate being one of those people that put meditation on a pedestal and claim it’s magical abilities to cure cancer but honestly, it’s the only activity, besides working out, that really refocuses my mind and allows me to be more present with myself, my art, and people around me. I don’t meditate enough these days and I’m trying to reintegrate it back into my daily routine.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Art has always been a way for me to exorcise some of the more difficult experiences and feelings I have in my life and through sharing this, it challenges me to be more honest about what I’m going through, both with myself and with others. I think people connect to my art because of the transparency of it— whether it’s communicating a statement, a memory, or just a feeling. It’s rewarding being an artist, when your work is recognized, when it moves people, when it inspires others, when it sells.

But it’s definitely grueling and masochistic. As an emerging painter/artist/whatever, I think it’s a common experience to feel like the floor might collapse under you at any second. One second you’re hot and it seems like there’s all these galleries that want to work with you and publications that want to feature you and the next second, it’s silent. That’s when you start to wonder things like: am I doing something wrong, am I challenging myself enough, where will the money come from, is all of this even worth it. I overcome these challenges when I remember it’s just life— it is what it is— and I just pick myself back up and keep making because I don’t really have a choice. I’ve tried to do other things— medicine, marketing and advertising, social work— but I need to make art. Nothing else makes me feel so alive. That being said, I think it’s also important to also have a life outside of art and to find joy and support in other parts of life you’ve created for yourself.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m currently based in Providence, RI, as I’ve just graduated from Rhode Island School of Design. My favorite place to visit is the beaches in Newport. They’re 40 minutes from Providence and they’re absolutely some of the most beautiful beaches in the east coast I’ve visited. I love the food in Federal Hill— Pickerel is my favorite local spot for Ramen. There, There has some of the best burgers ever. Justine’s is a romantic speakeasy hidden behind a lingerie shop in Onleyville. For art, I still think the RISD Museum is a gem that’s too often overlooked by residents and students here.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have so many people to thank in my life for where I’m at. My community at Outcast Studios still remains the foundation that has always been with me through thick and thin, believing in me, encouraging my practice, and inspiring me. Founded by my friends James Bee and Lisa Liu, they’ve not only created waves in the fashion creative production industry, but they’re changing lives as they grow. The passion and commitment to their work and raising the community they work with is an example I try to learn from within my own practice. Stilllife NYC is a group of friends and art professionals I’ve met more recently in the last two years who have really changed my life in similar ways. I met Jeffrey, Azure, Kat, and Shu from Stilllife in April 2022 and immediately I was struck by the love and authenticity that they’ve cultivated in their community and the level of commitment to really supporting the artists they work with. They are so young and I definitely see them as the shining stars of this next generation of art industry professionals.

Website: https://jizou.cargo.site/painting

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ji.zouu/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angiezou/

Image Credits
Gabriel Rojas (for the headshot)