Huajie Zhang

Zhang Huajie is a multidisciplinary Chinese contemporary artist whose artistic practice spans painting, photography, ceramics and performance art. Zhang Huajie held a Bachelor’s degree in cinematography from the Beijing Film Institute, before he received his Doctorate in Experimental Art from the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts. He was a visiting scholar at Alfred University in America. He also has had a successful career as a film and drama director and cinematographer. He currently lives and works in Sydney.

Dr Zhang Huajie has held solo exhibitions of his conceptual photography, modern painting, oil painting landscape, modern ink painting and abstract art in in China and in Australia, including the following:

• 2021  Mountain and Sea Alchemy, Vermillion Art Gallery, Sydney
• 2020  Uncertain,  Polaris Gallery, Melbourne
• 2019  Ink Action, Wuzhen Theatre Festival, Wuzhen, China
• 2018  Ink Action, Wuzhen Theatre Festival, Wuzhen, China
• Zhang Huajie Ceramics Exhibition, Qujiang Futao Ceramics Museum, Xi’an, China
• Northern Tropic – Oil Painting Exhibition, ICICLE Space, Shanghai, China
• 2015  Who Are You, Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China
• 2007  Face To Face - Photography Exhibition, Yahe Art Centre, Beijing, China

His works are widely collected by public and commercial art institutions as well as private collectors.

Artworks

Mountain and Sea Alchemy series #8 & #9

Alchemy of Mountains and Seas series constructs a reality of illusion or an illusory reality. The structure and texture of the paintings are sharp with deep and layered meaning.  The colours and images are roaming between order and passion, which creates an effect that is rational and solid, while also being free and unrestrained.

The artist was inspired in his seeking natural materials for his painting and applied mineral materials as a reflection of the vastness of the land in Australia.

The artist has found order in the disorder and crystallised this order in his artistic creation.  The creative process has traced his artistic concepts of rational thinking combined with random ideas.  After discovering the synergy of mixing ancient and new materials, new concepts are able to be brought to life in in his artwork.

New Creatures series (2021)

“In a forest of a hundred thousand trees, no two leaves are alike. And no two journeys along the same path are alike.” By Paulo Coelho

The artist one day was walking on a footpath in Sydney when he noticed something on footpath that looked like a giant slice of ham. He went closer and realised it was a dried and hardened palm leave. He picked it up and was hit by an instant flash of inspiration.

Originally scattered in all sorts of places, but once gathered one by one and brought to life by the artist, these “new creatures” assume a new life and form a new world of sky, ocean, plants and animals, death and rebirth, in silence and splendour.