Ziyue Zhang

Acrylic marker pen & marker pen & colored pencil
While my friends and I were blowing out the candles on our birthday cake

Marker & Acrylic Marker
Collection of Group Photos of Me and My Friends-Various Emotional Versions. I linked our heads together with chains and drew a lock and a key. This symbolizes that our emotional connection is very strong and also shows my possessiveness towards my friends.

Marker pen & acrylic marker pen & oil pastel
This painting uses exchanging tears to symbolize that my friend and I always support each other when we are at our most vulnerable moments.

Pastel
The architectural complex of Center London

Pastels & Watercolors
I depicted my friend using the method of blind painting. The randomly splashed colors were expressing the raindrops that fell on the painting that day.

Watercolor & Markers
My friend and I took pictures of the maple leaves. The various-sized spherical objects were raindrops.

Watercolor
The scene in my dream: I was walking along a long road that seemed to go on forever with my grandma holding my hand.

Watercolor
One day, while I was half-awake and half-asleep, I saw something mysterious. It was an illusion of mine.

Watercolor & Marker Pen
My friend is cooking

Reflection

I am a person with rich emotions. In my previous works, I always like to incorporate all my emotions into my paintings – the beautiful, the innocent, the evil, the complex, and the unknown – I want to express them all. These paintings also showcase my emotions.
Six out of these ten paintings depict the friendship between me and my friends. I used a slightly exaggerated style to express our openness and closeness.
My friends and I can talk about art and fashion, and also discuss the most private and ultimate topics in life, such as sex and death. They have brought me a lot of joy and meaning to life. I can also learn new knowledge and life lessons from them. I alays share my innermost feelings with them, pouring out my heart. We laugh and cry together. We have no secrets from each other. I cherish the bond I have with them as if it were a precious treasure.
Therefore, I recorded our daily life in these paintings. I think this is a testimony to our friendship. Whenever I see these paintings now, I always smile. Many years later, perhaps when I am middle-aged, I will still laugh out loud when I see them.
My grandma is the dearest elder relative to me. Unfortunately, I lost her in 2020. In the years since her passing, I have missed her almost every day. I often meet her in my dreams. She takes me to the world where she is, which is the world of the dead. I have drawn the scenes I saw in my dreams. I think it’s very warm. It’s a kind of warmth that transcends life and death. Although there is a huge gap between us, we can still talk so much and embrace each other. Although these might just be my imagination and dreams, I still think they are very meaningful and have given me a lot of strength and spiritual support.