Models wearing Zhao's Panda series' creations during a fashion show. [Photo provided to China Daily]

That is why he stopped painting and started the Panda series around 1996.

"The panda is a public symbol, an icon of cuteness. So, I thought that if my creations were centered around it, they would be attractive to more people and help me forge closer relationships with society," he says.

The panda is a recurring visual element in his works.

He poses with a toy panda for photographs used to make light-box installations. He staged a Bandi Panda Fashion runway show in 2007 in which models wore costumes Zhao designed to represent people from different walks of life. And he produced Let Panda Fly, a feature film, to raise money for a home for 46 elderly people in Kaifeng, Henan province, in 2013.

"I did not consider at first whether the works were artistically profound. It was the process that I cared about," he says.

"I hope that art can be a medium to link artists and life through my works."

The panda series sparked controversy as Zhao was accused of tarnishing the creature's image.

"The panda in my works has nothing to do with the ones in zoos. Nor does it have anything to do with whether I like the panda or not," he says, adding that it is like any other subject in an artwork.

"I created a world of pandas that challenges people's mindsets. And they are angered and influenced because my works have power."