A conversation with Pan Wangshu

It carries a light, delicate scent of oranges. At first, there’s a subtle sweetness, but gradually I could sense hints of orange leaves and branches woven into it. It felt as if I were standing on a hillside orchard, and someone had just crushed a fresh orange with their bare hands right in front of me—its juice bursting into the air and drifting toward me on a cool breeze. Because it blends with the scent of the surrounding air, the fragrance isn’t overpowering. Instead, it feels graceful and ethereal, like something floating gently.

It all happened by chance. I studied design but I’ve always loved making sculptures out of clay and plaster on my own. Later, I got into ceramics, and the unpredictability and versatility of the medium seemed to perfectly compensate for my somewhat rigid side.

My life is pretty simple. Every morning, I get up to take care of my plants, feed the cats and make some breakfast, then drop my kid off at the kindergarten. Then, I head to my studio and I have the whole time until 7pm to myself! I can do absolutely anything I want, ha! When I leave the studio, I pick my kid up and head home, then spend the evening with my family and the kitties.

I recently moved actually. The previous one was a bit farther away, where I had worked for quite a few years. The environments of the two studios are totally different; the old one was a lot more brutal. I wanted to switch to a new working environment and adjust my working state this year. I really love my current studio. What’s even better is that there are other artists next door. We have regular exchanges and also collaborate on some projects from time to time. It has exposed me to a lot of new things, and it’s been a really rewarding experience.

I really want to share my views and ideas with others, though I get a bit shy sometimes. I don’t exactly care how others interpret them. Sometimes people also share their own understandings and thoughts with me, and I find that really interesting.

Of course it matters! It’d be so lonely if you didn’t even understand your own works!

When I was a kid, my exposure to art came more from structured training rather than free-form creation. That makes it impossible for me to tell if I actually have much artistic talent. Maybe I’m super talented??? But I’ve always loved hands-on work. My dad was the kind of person who enjoyed making things with his own hands, so that made me feel like nothing is really that hard to do.
I majored in Visual Communication Design in college. Those relatively niche designs and colour palettes often spark a creative thrill in me—this includes certain fashion designs, Japanese graphic design, and even the narrative styles and emotional expressions of some authors, all of which have had a profound impact on me.

All the time! I often end up mentally drained from feeling unsure about my own ideas. Sharing my thoughts with others more often helps me feel more grounded inside.

I’ll definitely share it with others, and I’ll be super excited doing it! My husband will probably be the first person I talk to about it, I might even tell ChatGPT about it too…

Too many things! Finishing a piece of work I’m happy with, hearing an interesting idea, watching a film that moves me, going somewhere fun with family or friends, even seeing a new leaf grow on one of my plants. All of these bring me joy.

Yes. Creating an artwork is very much like building a scent. The ‘top note’ is the outer layer of the piece—its visual impression, its mood. The ‘heart’ and ‘base notes’ are the deeper structures and emotional layers—the motivations, feelings, and ideas beneath the surface. It’s the combination of these different levels that forms a complete work. 

This body of work is centred around the scent of oranges, but I also tried to capture the subtle sense of ‘warm air’ and the elusive atmosphere of a ‘dreamlike realm’. It’s not a literal smell, but more like a feeling that lingers and flows through the air. While creating this series, I often wore the fragrance on my body, immersing myself in its scent to guide the creative process.

During the New Year, we usually hang a Spring Festival couplet or a fu character on the door. If we don’t receive one from friends or relatives, we often paint it ourselves. The New Year is always full of gatherings and meals with loved ones, and elders give red envelopes to the younger ones. My favourite part is setting off fireworks and firecrackers during the celebrations.

Oranges are simply delicious!

The orange tree holds a special meaning during Chinese New Year, symbolising great luck and prosperity. The scent of Orange Sanguine immediately made me think of an orange grove, but its airy, drifting quality felt vast and expansive, almost like a kind of orange-scented wonderland. In this imagined place, the fragrance of orange pulp and tree bark floats through the air. You don’t need to be physically together to share that scent—it’s like love, something that flows freely. Just like during Chinese New Year, when people might be scattered across the world, yet the holiday creates a shared emotional moment, a sense of ‘together under the same sky’. The scent, like our feelings, travels through space and time.
I chose to turn the orange into a glowing lamp, using a warm orange light, because it reminds me of driving on the overpass at night and seeing windows glowing in that same colour. Each window holds a different person, a different story. That soft orange light always feels like home to me.

These days, people might not strictly follow the tradition of gifting oranges, but I think eating oranges in a warm room during winter is still one of the happiest things ever.

I cannot wait to travel to more places and try all kinds of different food!

Inspiration comes to me from many sources. Sometimes it’s a texture, sometimes it’s a combination of colours, or even a strange sentence. Depending on the theme I want to express, anything can become a starting point for inspiration.