Zhang Xiaoli

Zhang Xiaoli was born in 1989 in Guiyang, 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 is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at the same institution. In 2023, Zhang Xiaoli received the Liu Kuo-sung Ink Art Award. She currently lives and works in Niagara, Canada, where she was an artist residency at the Niagara Falls Exchange Centre (Niagara City Council) in 2025-2026.

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 40 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 10^th Beijing International Art Biennale: International Contemporary Ink Art Special Exhibition, 2025-2026; 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, showcased her debut Hong Kong solo exhibition in 2026, and featured her works in numerous group exhibitions in Hong Kong and New York, including Tradition Transformed, Hong Kong, 2025; Themes and Variations, New York, 2024; Chinese Surrealism, French May Arts Festival Associated Project, 2021. Her practice has been further shaped by in-depth residency programmes, including a 2025 Washington & Lee University residency that culminate in current exhibition Zhang Xiaoli: BLock Party! at Watson Galleries  until Dec 12, 2026. 

Her work was collected by the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, USA.