ESH Gallery is pleased to present Teatime in Chinatown, a solo exhibition by Alice Zanin organised under the patronage of the Italy China Foundation.
The artist, through the improvement of the ancient technique of Papier-Mâché, presents a series of sculptures that dialogue with the typical materials of the Far East tradition.
Through an exceptional sculptural work, technically perfect and with an incomparable attention to details, the artist gives life to papier-mâché animals that, while on the one hand are inspired by the decorative motifs of Oriental ceramics, on the other are distinguished by the chromatic games that recall the shades of the ancient materials of the Oriental tradition.

From the grey-green elephants and blue rhinoceroses that evoke the soft shades of Chinese enamels and ceramics, to the flight of red birds like the most precious and rare lacquer found in ancient Korean graves, the artist’s imaginary bestiary takes shape immersed in melancholy memories of childhood and a strong naturalistic interest.

The artist’s research plays on perception, confusing the audience’s senses, staging a choreography of bizarre animals relieved of their weight, elegant figures that float as light as air and as delicate as paper. Suspended by transparent threads and closed in plexiglass cases, these creatures, majestic and graceful, balanced between illusion and reality, appear as if enchanted to be observed in all their beauty, giving us time to reflect on our relationship with other living beings.
Alice Zanin tries to transform us into the audience of a show that has the ambition to tell a current and fragile reality, trying to make us aware of the impact of man on this planet, striking the consciences in an attempt to find a harmony with nature that has perhaps been lost.