Today we’d like to introduce you to Haoyun Erin Zhao.
Hi Haoyun Erin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a multidisciplinary artist based in San Francisco, working primarily in painting, printmaking, and installation. I also collaborate with dancers, musicians, and other types of creatives to offer performances and interactive art experiences. Travel is another important aspect of my work. In 2022, I traveled to Mexico, Switzerland, Germany, France, and Italy for art residencies and exhibitions. I’m extremely grateful that my work enables me to visit incredible places and connects me with brilliant minds and souls.
Tracing back to where it all started, I was a curious child and enjoyed creating with my hands. I also loved daydreaming and letting my imagination run wild while staring at cloud formations or watching ants travel. That child still lives inside of me. My practice helps to feed my curiosity and provides a safe place for exploration.
I grew up in Southern China in an unconventional family where I was raised mainly by my grandfather while my parents lived in different parts of the world. Fortunately for me, my family has always been supportive of my interest in becoming an artist. Even though there wasn’t a professional artist in my family, my dad played guitar and my cousin was my childhood art idol. My great-grandmother and grandmother were of Bouyei ethnicity and were highly skilled in traditional Bouyei crafts like embroidery and batik. All of this planted the seed in me and motivated me to search for artistic expression from a young age.
At the age of seventeen, I relocated to the United States for school. Suddenly entering an environment where I had to adapt to a new language and culture, I was like a sponge trying to soak up as much information as possible. After a short stay in Ellensburg, Washington, I moved to San Francisco to attend the Academy of Art University. Art school was no lack of fun but also sleepless nights working on projects. I learned a lot from art school, but I’d say that the real learning of how to be an artist began after school.
I started teaching at a private art studio in San Francisco soon after my graduation. That was a pivotal time in my early career. Teaching has provided me with an invaluable experience in communication and sharing knowledge while supporting the financial need and allowing me to experiment with various styles and techniques in my studio practice. I also began to submit to open-call exhibitions and other opportunities more actively during that time. As the exposure of my work grew, I started to receive inquiries from curators, collectors, and art consultants for projects on various scales, from small and medium size wall pieces to large-scale room-size installations. This growth eventually enabled me to quit my teaching job during the pandemic and to be fully committed to my studio practice and project travels.
This journey has been full of adventure, uncertainty, and growth. I wouldn’t want to change a thing. Every time I walk into my studio, I’m reminded how lucky I am to be able to do what I’m passionate about, which is to create. I hope to continue to experience the world through my creative process, explore the connections between physical materials and non-physical mediums (light, emotion, consciousness, etc.), encourage curiosity, and create space for contemplation in our ever-changing environment.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being a creative and self-employed person is not a smooth road. Among many challenges along the way, the first and probably the most important one is cultivating the right attitude toward rejection. I won’t even bother to persuade you not to take things personally because I know how it feels when you put so much of yourself and your soul into the creation. In a way, art is personal. I struggled with this in the beginning when receiving rejection emails, and they would get me down. But the key here is not letting the feeling stop you and continue to learn and put your work out there. My mindset changed when I realized that the more I choose to put myself out there, the higher the chance rejection will happen, the same as opportunities. I started to not respond to them emotionally. Instead, I learned to take each rejection as an opportunity to reflect and create space for growth.
There’s still a myth about artist life that we only work when inspiration is present. I agree with the importance of inspiration, but the way we view the relationship between an artist and inspiration is often flawed. As a professional artist, meeting deadlines and delivering high-quality commissioned projects are essential. Even when working on something that doesn’t have a deadline, I like to set up a fake deadline to motivate myself and get the process going. I believe in searching for inspiration through the process and not waiting around.
One thing that I have been and still am struggling with is the so-called work-life balance. I don’t know if it even exists. Priorities sound more appropriate here.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I enjoy process-based work and I put a strong emphasis on each step of the creative process. My work mainly takes the form of painting, printmaking, and installation. I also collaborate with dancers, musicians, and other types of creatives to offer performances and interactive art experiences. I highly value the influences across disciplines.
Rooted in my study of Eastern and Western Philosophy, my work focus on exploring the intangibility of perception through the physicality of my materials. I’m interested in our ever-changing perception of the environment and its connection to culture, memory, place, and personal experience.
When you see my work, you will notice a strong visual relationship between light and shadow, color and form. It’s vibrant, playful and full of spatial wonder.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.erinzhao.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinzhaoart/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erinzhaoart/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqqBxI6SDNgtMCfKEc2oBJw
- Other: http://www.erinzhao.com/shop
