Elena Zhao: Ever in Flux

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Ever in Flux

16 October - 10 November, 2024

Opening: Saturday 19 October 2-4pm

Ever In Flux presents an otherworldly collection of semi-abstract paintings by Chinese-born Melbourne-based artist Elena Zhao.

Bridging her Eastern heritage with Western influences, Zhao melds her classical training in China and her recent insights as a Victorian College of the Arts graduate. In ‘Ever In Flux,' her first major solo exhibition, Zhao draws upon the opulent sensibilities of Rococo and Baroque styles, reimagining them through her unique artistic lens.

Zhao's diffusive techniques shift the viewer's gaze from the subject’s face to the broader composition, cultivating oil paintings that explore epic themes of transformation and impermanence to reflect a scientific understanding of existence where everything comprises changing particles, and nothing is ever static. Singular to Zhao is a narrative that diverges from Western art traditions, particularly through the enlarged representations of women's arms and hands, symbolising strength and the complex nature of femininity while highlighting the weight of societal burdens they often bear.

Zhao aims to evoke an otherworldly and mythical essence in her paintings, inviting viewers to engage with the fluidity and evolving nature of art and cultural expression.