Chen Zhen I

Chen Zhen's (1955-2000) sculptures were mainly assembled from found objects "Cocoon du Vide 2000″ empty cocoon, Chrysalis forms made from Chinese Abacus, and Buddhist rosary beads threaded onto wire. The series of Cocoon works reflect the artists experience of illness.

'The work evokes the frailty and transience of life, and through the interplay of reflections it presents a meditation on the relation between the inner and outer world, individual and society, material and spiritual universe. A philosophical inquiry related to the concept of emptiness in Zen Buddhism is the source of Cocon du vide, 2000 (“Empty Cocoon”), an assemblage consisting of Buddhist rosaries (religion), wooden Chinese abacuses (mathematics), and brass bells (everyday life).' Palazzo Grassi