Zhang Xiaoli was born in 1989 in Guizhou, China. She received the Ms. Chu Lam Yiu Scholarship and moved to Hong Kong in 2008 to pursue higher education at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she received her BA with first class honours in Fine Arts and Biology in 2014. During the graduation show, she received Y.S Hui Fine Arts Award and Wucius Wong Creative Ink Painting Award. She gained a Master’s degree at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2021, and studied her Ph.D. at the same institution. In 2023 Zhang Xiaoli received the Liu Kuo-Sung Ink Art Award.
Zhang utilizes meticulous gongbi techniques, portraying imagined scenes that subtly blur the boundary between the future and the past. Balancing between myths and science, her practice inherits tradition while opens a dialogue with the contemporary. In her iconic Boxed Landscape series, Zhang substitutes the traditional elements of Chinese landscape painting—trees, mountains, rocks, and figures—with depictions of Lego bricks, offering a contemporary dialogue with tradition. Within small containers, she constructs surreal landscapes rendered in the meticulous gongbi ink painting style, transforming personal memories and experiences into poetic imagery. Inspired by the concept of the Cabinets of Curiosities (Wunderkammer, 15th–18th centuries), her works incorporate references to astronomy, physics, physiology, molecular biology, and even mathematics. These miniature boxed worlds open a window into the artist’s imagination while expressing wisdom, lyricism, and beauty. For Zhang, they embody the landscapes of the contemporary world.
Zhang has participated in more than thirty exhibitions worldwide, including New York, London, Paris, Brussels, Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Taipei, and Hong Kong. In 2023, she held a major solo exhibition at the Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China. She has also been featured in significant group exhibitions such as Wandering in the Gardens of Jiangnan, which travelled to Tongji University, Shanghai; University of Florence, Italy; Carré à la Farine Exhibition Hall, Versailles, France, 2024; Youth Will: Beijing Youth Art Biennale, Today Art Museum, Beijing, 2016; Senses: Exhibition of Works by Young Emerging Hong Kong Artists, University Museum and Art Gallery, University of Hong Kong, 2015.
Alisan Fine Arts has represented Zhang since 2017, showcasing her works in numerous group exhibitions including Themes and Variations, New York, 2024; Ink Alchemy, Hong Kong, 2023; POP ROCK and Chinese Surrealism, French May Arts Festival, both 2021; Uniquely Hong Kong, 2020; HOPE charity exhibition, 2018; and Desiring: Post-97 Hong Kong Ink Art, 2017.
Her work was collected by the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, USA.
BIOGRAPHY
1989 Born Guiyang, Guizhou, China
2008 Moved to Hong Kong and studied at Chinese University of Hong Kong
2010 Exchange student at the University of California at Berkeley, USA
2014 Bachelor, First Honour, double major in Fine Arts and Biology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
2021 Master degree, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
2023 Gave an artist talk Ink Alchemy at Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
Present Studying for a Ph.D., Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Lives and works in Niagara, Canada
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023
2020
2019
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
2022
2021
2020
As Time Goes by... New Stories from the Garden, Suzhou Design Week, The Surging Wave Pavillion & Ke Yuan, Suzhou, China
2019
2018
Affordable Art Fair: Young Talented Program 2018, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
SELECTED AWARDS
2023 Gold Award, Liu Kuo-Sung Ink Art Award, co-presented by Liu Kuo-sung Foundation, Taiwan; and Ink Society, Hong Kong
2014 Y.S. Hui Fine Arts Award, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Wucius Wong Creative Ink Painting Award, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
2013 Convocation Outstanding Creativity Student Award 2012/2013, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
2008 Ms. Chu Lam Yiu Scholarship
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, USA
