Sophie Zhang

Sophie enjoys the simplicity and directness of painting. In constructing a conversation with the two-dimensional surface, her only concern is what happens within the flat canvas, nothing outside of it. She consciously and subconsciously preserves and rejects marks until she feels that their energy is right, attempting to create a balanced resolution.

While her work stresses the materiality of paint, Sophie always use symbolic allusions to her Chinese ethnicity or images from her daily life as a starting point. References in her painting range from traditional Chinese architectural patterns, ancient proverbs, to an often neglected corner in her studio at the Slade School of Fine Art. As her painting carries on, however, the subject matter no longer holds much significance, but merely becomes a vehicle to embody her expression.

Sophie finds painting to be a self-reflective and self-understanding process. Whether the state of her mind and body is depressed, calm, anxious or delighted, her painting reveals exactly what she feels at the moment of creation. As William de Kooning once said, “Painting is first and foremost a declaration and display of temperament.” For Sophie, it all comes down to rendering a sense of energy and dete...

2016 - present, MA Painting, Royal College of Art;
2012 - 2016, BA in Fine Art, Slade School of Fine Art