ABOUT DAISHI LUO
Daishi Luo is an interdisciplinary art creator and modern alchemist whose work is driven by cross-disciplinary research. Fascinated by the fusion of bio-art and traditional Chinese culture, she harnesses copper both as a medium and a metaphor to nurture evolving artworks that envision a future of deep collaboration between humans and nature. Her practice bridges art, craftsmanship, and science—engaging in field research, materials investigation, sculpture, installation, video, and publishing—to rethink sustainability, reinterpret cultural heritage dynamically, and deconstruct the ethics of materials.
In her work, copper is not merely a substance but a bridge connecting past, present, and future. With an alchemical approach, she applies the logic of cultivating plants to her creations. By integrating the techniques and insights of chemistry, biology, bronze craftsmanship, and Chinese painting, Daishi has developed a unique "Out of Control within Control" method that allows copper to organically evolve its distinctive hues and forms under carefully crafted conditions. Her innovative practice both explores the inherent properties of matter and challenges entrenched anthropocentric modes of creation.
Daishi’s pioneering work has earned her numerous awards and international exhibitions, including invitations to deliver academic lectures at the Rijksmuseum. She has been recognized by the National Art Fund of China (2017–2018), the Creative Public Welfare Fund (2019), and the World Wildlife Fund (2022), among others. Her creations have been showcased at renowned institutions and events such as Château de Montsouris (FR), the Rijksmuseum (NL), the Victoria and Albert Museum (CN), Design Miami (CN/US), Rotterdam Design Biennale (NL), Salon Art+Design (NY), and Batsu Gallery (JP). Moreover, her work is permanently collected by institutions, brands, and private collectors including the Luo Zhongli Museum of Art, China Geological Museum, Rong Design Library, Wu Jie Art Museum, DIOR, Audi, and Lancôme. In 2020, she pioneered the establishment of China’s first Copper Gene Bank, COPPERCOLORS.
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RESEARCH
Process, MTAMORPHOSIS，2024
创作理念
Why copper? Daishi’s choice of copper goes beyond its inherent material qualities; she regards it as a symbol loaded with historical, technological, and ecological significance. Copper has propelled human civilization—from ancient craftsmanship and the Industrial Revolution to today’s innovations in clean energy—while its extraction and usage also reveal the hidden ecological and societal costs of industrialization. In her work, copper serves as a bridge, embodying both promise and caution as it connects the past with the future. Through this perspective, she reinterprets the dynamic interplay between human ingenuity, technological advancement, and the natural environment.
Central to her practice is a method known as “Out of Control within Control.” This approach involves meticulously establishing environmental conditions—such as temperature, humidity, and chemical reaction media—while deliberately allowing the material space to evolve autonomously. By blurring the lines between precise human intervention and natural spontaneity, Luo Daishi enables copper to “grow” its own colors, textures, and structural forms. Her work emerges not as a static object, but as a living practice—a continuously evolving system that mirrors the co-evolution of ecological and technological forces.
Research and experiements,2020-2025
Her projects span a range of formats and mediums. For instance, in Seed, she employs time-lapse photography to document the nuanced evolution of copper as it responds to both controlled intervention and natural forces; Metamorphosis uses the symbolic imagery of human hair to express transformation and organic growth; and 960 Hours captures, in real time, the direct influence of environmental conditions on material evolution. At the core of her long-term project, COPPERCOLORS, over 500 distinct modes of copper’s chromatic evolution have been cultivated, forming a dynamic archive that offers new insights into sustainable development and ecological responsibility.
Daishi’s work is a testament to the belief that art’s true power lies in challenging conventional perspectives and opening up new realms of possibility. By moving beyond an anthropocentric worldview and embracing the symbiotic relationship between humans, materials, and nature, she envisions a future defined by innovative, sustainable creation. Through her practice, viewers are invited to reconsider the connections between people, their environment, and the materials that shape our world, paving the way for a collaborative, co-evolutionary future.
铜色基因库，2020至今