Artist Zhu Ohmu on celebrating Lunar New Year, her heritage, and how it influences her style
As a longstanding friend of the brand, Zhu Ohmu and her art practice embodies the spirit of Aje: organic in form yet interacting with a sense of space and time.
What are your first memories of Lunar New Year?
“To me, Lunar New Year is feasting with family and friends. My first memories of Lunar New Year are of covering my ears while firecrackers go off in my grandmother’s neighborhood, lion dancing, lots of red and gold paper decor, memorising New Year greetings to say to elders in order to receive red envelopes, and my mum taking all of said red envelopes from me at the end of the day.”
How does your family celebrate New Year?
“It’s been a few years since my family were all together for Lunar New Year, but I remember we would always have whole steamed fish on New Year’s eve. Fish is a homophone for surplus in Mandarin, and a symbolism for wealth and prosperity. We had to make sure to not eat all of the whole fish, so there will be ongoing ‘surplus’ in the coming year. I also remember my grandfather always frantically doing a big clean before Lunar New Year, because cleaning during New Year celebrations is considered sweeping the good luck away.”
“I like to mark the occasion by sharing a meal on New Year’s eve, wearing some red and no cleaning or hair washing on New Year’s day. I’ll also put the red envelope I’ve received under my pillow.”
How do you personally like to celebrate Lunar New Year?
“I like to mark the occasion by sharing a meal on New Year’s eve, wearing some red and no cleaning or hair washing on New Year’s day. I’ll also put the red envelope I’ve received under my pillow.”
You were born in Taipei, grew up in New Zealand and now reside in Melbourne. How have each of these locations influenced your Lunar New Year?
“Growing up, Lunar New Year in New Zealand was pretty quiet. Lunar New Year is more buzzy in Australia, I’ve noticed more campaigns and events, and have seen lion dancing in restaurants here. I’ve also experienced many Lunar New Years in Shanghai when my father worked in China. In Shanghai we lived on the 30th floor, so during Lunar New Year celebrations a lot of the fireworks luminescence will explode at eye level. I’m not a big fan of sudden loud noises but I must admit it was pretty spectacular.”
What are your first memories of Lunar New Year?
“To me, Lunar New Year is feasting with family and friends. My first memories of Lunar New Year are of covering my ears while firecrackers go off in my grandmother’s neighborhood, lion dancing, lots of red and gold paper decor, memorising New Year greetings to say to elders in order to receive red envelopes, and my mum taking all of said red envelopes from me at the end of the day.”
How does your family celebrate New Year?
“It’s been a few years since my family were all together for Lunar New Year, but I remember we would always have whole steamed fish on New Year’s eve. Fish is a homophone for surplus in Mandarin, and a symbolism for wealth and prosperity. We had to make sure to not eat all of the whole fish, so there will be ongoing ‘surplus’ in the coming year. I also remember my grandfather always frantically doing a big clean before Lunar New Year, because cleaning during New Year celebrations is considered sweeping the good luck away.”
“I think style is a constant evolution, and I feel I am still in the experimenting stage with my personal style… that is part of the fun of fashion – the discovery of how new shapes, colours and textures feel on the body. ”
You started in small paintings and drawings and now you are most recognised for your ceramic work. Other than obviously medium, more recently since you spoke with Aje, how has your art practice evolved over time?
“I work quite slowly and over the years my ceramics practice has mainly evolved by refining the technical aspects of my self-formulated coiling building process. Last year I played with colour gradients and currently I’m experimenting with larger scale. I am definitely open to working with other mediums- in the last couple of years I have done workshops in glassblowing and marble carving. I have also been dreaming about painting again.”
You will be relocating to Paris soon which is exciting! Tell us more about that.
“I started playing with clay in Collingwood in 2015, and Melbourne is an amazing city for creative incubation. I feel I have reached a point where I am ready to expand my ceramics practice at an international level and see where that takes my career. My dream is to split my time between Australia and Europe. I have many friends in Paris, and when I visited recently, I felt right at home. I’m very excited about the adventures art will take me on.”
