Meng Du：
The Gardener Departs — Vines Linger — Sparrows Peer In
The Gardener Departs — Vines Linger — Sparrows Peer In is Meng Du’s second solo exhibition at Ferris Gallery.
Deeping in a forest stands a glass greenhouse. One day, the gardener disappears, but the greenhouse does not become quiet. Everything inside keeps growing and changing: tools begin to grow, vines climb and sparrows watch from the side. Even without the gardener, the greenhouse slowly develops a life of its own.
Since she went to the United States to study glass art in 2010, Meng Du has spent sixteen years working with glass, a material born from sand and fire. As her skills have grown, so has her way of seeing art, romantic yet thoughtful, guided by both instinct and reflection.Through glass, she brings together memories of things that have passed, a wish to hold on to them, care for the small details of everyday life, and a sense of curiosity and wonder toward the natural world.
By the different glass-making techniques, combined with found objects, textiles and metal, Meng Du creates a wonderful world where the past, present and future exist together. Like two mirrors facing each other, this world continues to expand through the endless reflection of thoughts and imagination.
Like Alice stepping through the looking glass, visitors are invited to enter this strange greenhouse and become part of its story.
Artist
Born in 1986. She graduated from the Visual Communication program of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing (B.F.A.) in 2008 and the Department of Glass and Glass Sculpture Program of Rochester Institute of Technology (M.F.A.) in 2013. Currently, she is living and working in Beijing. Her work has continued to exhibit in China, Europe, and in the U.S.A., including Landhuis Oud Amelisweerd, Utrecht (2026); Victoria and Albert Museum, London (2025); Today Art Museum, Beijing (2025/2021); Shanghai Museum of Glass, Shanghai (2023/2018); Genesis Foundation, Beijing (2022); The Delaware Contemporary, U.S.A. (2020); and The International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa at Shiinoki Cultural Complex, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan (2016). Meng’s solo show at Fou Gallery (2016) signifies the debut of her artistic career, marking her inaugural solo exhibition. She served as a residency artist at Seto International Ceramic & Glass Art Exchange Program, Seto, Japan (2021) and Aichi University of Education Glass Program, Aichi, Japan (2019/2017). Her work has been widely featured in China Daily, People’s Daily, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Yitiao, Art China, CAFA Art Info, and other media platforms. She was invited to give lectures at TED Talk (2024), YiXi (2020), and ROG International Art Project Online Symposium (2020). In 2016, she won the Honorable Mention for The International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa (Kanazawa, Japan). In 2018, she won the 2018 Saxe Emerging Artist Award at the 47th Glass Art Society Conference (Venice, Italy). She is the youngest artist who presented a solo exhibition at the Shanghai Museum of Glass. Her work is in the permanent collection of Burberry (Shanghai), Corning Glass Works (Shanghai), Shanghai Museum of Glass, Zhuzhong Collection (Beijing), and Victoria and Albert Museum (London).
Meng Du
