Abby Zhang: An enormous breath being held

Abby Zhang’s paintings draw from a diverse range of inspiration, including Abstract Expressionism, Science Fiction, everyday motifs, dreams, and nature. In this series, she improvises fragmented images emerging from imagination, creating a semi-abstract, fantastical universe that portrays human traces and surreal landscapes. Her works blend representational elements with gestural marks, rendered in thin washes of paint and contrasting materials. Through these techniques, Zhang explores the ontological nature of existence, focusing on how physical objects, humans, abstract entities, memories, and experience interact within the paintings.

Bio:
Abby Zhang is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Trained as a painter, she holds a Masters of Fine Arts From the Pratt Institute and has exhibited her work nationally. Zhang’s expansive body of work includes paintings, sculpture, site-specific installations, and video. She has shown her work in Target Gallery, VA; Capital Culture house, Madrid, Spain; Art X Gallery, WHERE?, CA; and Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, CA. She recently participated in the Nomad III and TRYST Alternative Art Fair, hosted by the Torrance Art Museum. She will be an artist in residence at the Vermont Studio Center in spring/summer 2025.

Gallery Hours: Fri and Sat, 12 – 5 pm
Artists’ Reception: Saturday, March 15, 3 – 5 pm
Artists’ Talk: Saturday, March 22, 4 – 5 pm
Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: April 4, 5 – 9 pm

Abby Zhang, Goat Chase, 60″ x 48″, 2024, Oil and acrylic on canvas, photo courtesy of the artist