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Hussel Zhu

video , schilderen , performance , installatie

My work deals with a persistent jet lag — the misalignment of language, behavior, and belonging across different systems. Rather than resolving this displacement, I work within it like a fool: letting misunderstandings happen, allowing the absurd to surface, and placing unfamiliar elements into existing systems to see what happens.

Honest language
Honest language - 2026 Honest Language, solo exhibition, Het Nest, ’s-Hertogenbosch, NL This exhibition marks the formal debut of my paintings, which I previously hadn't focused on as my primary work. It serves as both my first presentation and the foundation for my ongoing practice.
Total Let Go Cathartic Healing Pleasure Activist Transformative Release Dance Party, 2025
Total Let Go Cathartic Healing Pleasure Activist Transformative Release Dance Party, 2025 - An improvised collaboration between four near-strangers, conceived as a music video. Live performance and sound are edited into a narrative structure. 00:08:46 With Moni Zwitserloot, de Feministische Handwerkartij (Emmeline de Mooij, Margreet Sweerts) Exhibition at Plaatmaken, Arnhem (curated by Sunflowersoup).
A Small Ritual
A Small Ritual - Inspired by Chōjū-giga’s anthropomorphic animals and Bada Shanren’s eye-rolling fish, two frogs perform a ritual-like exchange. Exhibition at DeLoods, Breda.
A Small Ritual
A Small Ritual - Exhibition view
Face of Resistance - When we don't get a reply, or when we see fascism, 2025
Face of Resistance - When we don't get a reply, or when we see fascism, 2025 - Drawings installation, double A3, Tussen Uilen, Vleermuizen en Blinde Vlekken, with colletive It is Part of an Ensemble, Museum Cobra, Amstelveen, NL
Face of Resistance - When we don’t get a reply, or when we see fascism.
Face of Resistance - When we don’t get a reply, or when we see fascism, 2025 - Drawings installation, double A3, Tussen Uilen, Vleermuizen en Blinde Vlekken, with colletive It is Part of an Ensemble, Museum Cobra, Amstelveen, NL
An Evening of Storytelling Through Food, Art, and Shared Experiences, 2024
An Evening of Storytelling Through Food, Art, and Shared Experiences, 2024 - Participating Artist & Curator, Exhibition Komma Samen, ClubLokaal, Breda, NL This workshop centers around Mianhua—a traditional dough-based folk art originating from northern China, especially Shanxi province. Historically, Mianhua has been used in weddings, funerals, longevity celebrations, and local rituals. It is typically handmade by women, not with professional tools, but with everyday objects like combs, scissors, and hairpins. Through improvisation, these ordinary items become creative tools for expressing emotion and memory. The craft reflects a spirit of creativity, sharing, and resilience developed in conditions of material scarcity. Artists Hussel Zhu, Chongjing Chen, and Zhangyi invite passersby—especially those with migration backgrounds—to create Mianhua using colored dough and their own small, personal everyday objects. As we shape the dough together, we share stories—about migration, home, and the objects we carry with us.
An Evening of Storytelling Through Food, Art, and Shared Experiences, 2024
An Evening of Storytelling Through Food, Art, and Shared Experiences, 2024 - Participating Artist & Curator, Exhibition Komma Samen, ClubLokaal, Breda, NL
Clean the Dirt_details, 2025
Clean the Dirt_details, 2025 - Prospects – Art Rotterdam 2024, Rotterdam Ahoy, NL.
Clean the Dirt, 2025
Clean the Dirt, 2025 - Prospects – Art Rotterdam 2024, Group Exhibition, Rotterdam Ahoy, NL. (foto Tommy Smits)
The facial expression of a plank/ De gezichtsuitdrukking van een plank/ 一块木板的表情 2024
The facial expression of a plank/ De gezichtsuitdrukking van een plank/ 一块木板的表情 2024 - A performance based on my fiction story: “...do you know that planks also have facial expressions? When he realized he is the odd one out among a group of elegant and refined objects. How nervous, embarrassed and self conscious his face would look like.” "This story is about an Asian immigrant who, not understanding the current (Western) context and dialogue, tries to hide his true expressions to avoid appearing out of place." I wear Chinese opera makeup on my face throughout the performance, yet I never reveal it. At the end, I transfer(wipe) the makeup onto wet sheet of hanging rice paper, leaving behind my "expression" before leaving. | Club Solo, Opening of Heavy Foldable Table, Breda, 2024
The body of a snake, the head of a horse, the tail of a hyena, the horns of a deer, the claws of an - “龙/龍” (Long – Chinese dragon) is frequently translated as “dragon” in Western contexts. However, Long (龙/龍) in ancient China symbolizes auspiciousness, justice, prosperity, and strength, with unique shapes and characteristics. “Dragon” is a misleading translation, though now, Chinese people also refer to it as such. How does the Western depiction influence and possibly dominate our collective cultural perception? I sculpt a narrative of the Chinese Long, weaving through these reflections. The title primarily references the dragon description in “The Fu Xi Studies” . We call 'Long' the “The nine resemblances” | Installation, sculpture, 250X250X400cm, 2023 Kunstliefde, Utrecht, NL
The body of a snake, the head of a horse, the tail of a hyena, the horns of a deer, the claws of an eagle, the scales and whiskers of a fish
‘The nightmares’, 2024 - “I roughly sewed my earlier paintings, which expressed my social anxiety, onto a bedsheet (and pillow). I slept under it right before the opening speech, and I fell asleep during the opening.” Paintings installation and sleeping performance | IDFX, Breda, 2024
‘The nightmares’ - City Gallery, Breda, 2023
Rabbit god - Tu'er Shen is a Chinese deity who manages love and sex between homosexual people. His name literally means 'rabbit deity.' Calling people rabbit (Tu Zi) is also a swear word (like faggot) in many Chinese areas. However, unlike the God of Wealth, nobody knows about the rabbit god; there are barely any images of this deity, just like the topic of homosexuality is often “off the table” in China. I made a rabbit god statue before I researched him. Then I transferred his figure into the objects we used to worship the God and ancestors. | Mixed-media installation, 2022 Kunstpodium-T, Tilburg / DOOR, Dordrecht, 2021
Appearances of a cultural jet lag - This installation piece describes the distance between me and my native culture. Mixed-media installations, sound, 2023 Hotel Solo: Fluid Art Space, as part of HOTEL SOLO #8, a Club Solo research project by FLUID, Club Solo, Breda, NL
Appearances of a cultural jet lag - Mixed-media installations, sound, 2023 Hotel Solo: Fluid Art Space, as part of HOTEL SOLO #8, a Club Solo research project by FLUID, Club Solo, Breda, NL / Witte Rook, Breda, NL

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