Zhou Siwei’s works translate his personal fragmented, nonlinear, and random experience of contemporary life—the ambivalence of digital technologies, the unceasing global traffic in goods, the sleeplessness of the late-capitalist era—with playful gestures. He interweaves diverse visual and cultural influences in ways that make them feel at once familiar and alien, accommodating a wide range of interpretations.

The motifs for his paintings are often found formal elements such as characters, schematic representations, and popular logos of consumer products. Zhou combines these signs and symbols with abstract atmospheric color spaces that look as though illuminated by indeterminate sources of light. His rich palette is characterized by the complete absence of black and white. The nuanced surfaces composed of numerous translucent layers challenge the beholder’s perception and are virtually impossible to reproduce in their vibrancy, iridescence, and tactile quality.