Magnolia – Shakespeare

A native of Hangzhou, Chu Chu studied at the China Academy of Art and received training in traditional Chinese painting, graphic design, oil painting, photography and film. For her doctorate, she studied calligraphy under Wang Dongling. In Magnolia – Shakespeare, Chu explores the relationship between traditional and new media by first photographing the tiny, dried magnolias in 2011, then in 2018 writing cursive calligraphy in diluted ink and silver colour on the photograph. Inscribing extracts from the Shakespearean classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Chu reworks calligraphy via literature and photography with a boundless imagination.