Born in a rural village in China, Zhao Mengge has established herself as a distinctive voice on the contemporary art scene. Through her powerful works, she conveys an intimate vision of the world, shaped by her life experience, her travels and her deep sensitivity. We met a wholehearted, passionate and free woman. Zhao Mengge embodies this generation of artists for whom art is not just a profession, but a visceral calling. For her, each painting is a dialogue between the soul and the world, between intuition and technique. Today, her work is exhibited both in China and abroad, notably at Art Basel, where she will be present from 20 to 22 June.

Zhao Mengge is neither trying to please nor to imitate. She moves forward with patience, sincerity and high standards, building a coherent and profound body of work. A name to watch closely on the international stage.

Le Monde Économique : You started drawing at a very young age. Can you tell us about your beginnings?

Zhao Mengge : It all began in primary school. I drew in my notebooks: my teachers, my classmates… I was living in the countryside, so I also painted a lot of plants, crops and wildflowers. It was instinctive, a need for expression.

Le Monde Économique : You then attended a prestigious art school?

Zhao Mengge : Yes, I was fortunate enough to be admitted to the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, the best-known art school in China. That is where I learned to draw better, refine my eye, and discover different sources of inspiration that gradually helped me find my own style. After graduating, I decided to become an independent artist — a difficult choice, but one that allows me to remain free.

Le Monde Économique : Did you work with live models during your training? Do you still do so today?

Zhao Mengge : Yes, at school it was standard practice. We drew from models a lot; it was essential for learning. But today, I no longer feel the need. My inspiration comes from within, from my memory, from my emotions. I prefer to paint what I feel rather than what I see.

Le Monde Économique : Is it difficult to be an independent artist in China?

Zhao Mengge : Living out one’s calling, making a living from it and staying true to oneself is a universal challenge — but in China, that path is particularly steep. Recognition cannot be decreed, and living according to the truth of one’s heart requires a quiet strength, an almost silent endurance. I have been given that rare chance: to devote my life to what I love. Art is what makes me breathe, what makes me free. It is something I cannot do without.

Le Monde Économique : Your work is imbued with great sensitivity. What are the deeper sources of your inspiration?

Zhao Mengge : Inspiration never comes from just one place. It is born of a glance, a silence, a memory or a landscape. My travels, my reading, the films I watch, the music I listen to… everything resonates with my inner world. Sometimes, a seemingly trivial detail triggers an emotion, an echo, which becomes the starting point for a creation. What I experience, what I feel, what I perceive — all of it becomes living material that I transform on canvas.

Le Monde Économique : Your style is very personal. Did it take a long time to emerge?

Zhao Mengge : Oh yes. Finding your voice is a long journey, often a solitary one. You have to lose yourself in order to find yourself again. I hesitated, I doubted, I started over. My goal has always been for someone to recognise one of my works at first glance. Not out of pride, but because it bears a unique trace: mine.

Le Monde Économique : Have you been influenced by major artists?

Zhao Mengge : I studied art history in depth, both Chinese and Western. I absorbed what I could, without ever trying to copy. I do not have a fixed model. I do not want to be “the new Picasso” or “the Chinese Matisse”. I just want to be myself.

Le Monde Économique : And tomorrow? Where do you see yourself in a few years?

Zhao Mengge : I will continue to paint, to explore, to tell the world through my colours. Fame is not what I am looking for. What I am looking for is sincerity. Exhibiting at Art Basel is a beautiful dream, of course. But I prefer to move forward slowly, build ties with Europe, and let things come with patience and honesty.

Le Monde Économique : You seem fully devoted to your art. Would you say you have sacrificed everything for it?

Zhao Mengge : Art is my whole life. I have given it everything, without hesitation. It is not a rational choice, it is self-evident. I do not know how to live otherwise. Creating, for me, is a necessity — like breathing.

Le Monde Économique : What do you hope to convey to those discovering your work abroad?

Zhao Mengge : I would like my canvases to speak without noise, but with force. To move people at heart level, without artifice. To look at them and feel something true, something deep. I would like people to say: “It’s her.” And for that to be enough.

Find all our interviews