She says by investing love in their work, artists create a secret, intimate passage of love and wisdom for the audience, presenting to them an ideal realm, beyond their experiences, that is extensive and of depth.

This idea underlies Plato's Ladder, an exhibition of women artists which Zhu curates at the Soul Art space, in 798 art zone through April 8.

It gathers the works of 15 artists who share their observations of social changes and the situations of women. They examine how love, of multiple layers in meaning like that of Plato's ladder, is influencing people, and especially how an embrace of unconventional meanings of love in women artists' work is reshaping people's understanding of the world.