epilogue. – Danielle Zhu

Instagram: @dzhuart  
Email: contactakadanie@gmail.com 

Danielle Zhu is a Chinese-Canadian artist based in Winnipeg. She primarily works with acrylic paints and digital media to create whimsical landscapes, disorienting portraits, or a combination of both in her personified illustrations. Her recent works attempt to reconnect with her Chinese heritage by drawing inspiration from intimate experiences and family histories. She is currently a 4^th-year student in the Fine Arts Studio Practice program at the University of Waterloo.

Artist Statement

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, hate crimes against the Asian community have dramatically increased. This injustice urged me to create artworks that remind me to celebrate my unique culture.

My work, Blue Spring, is an invented landscape that fuses personal experiences with dreamy fantasies. It depicts my feeling of uncertainty about my future after graduation. The acrylic painting features a derailed train that is flooded with water. The train diverges from its intended course and its destinations are unknown. The figure in the foreground is shown carrying an umbrella, however, it is useless against the water pouring from the train. The Year of the Tiger illustration signifies the year of my graduation. The gate structure references the Chinatown neighborhood in my hometown, Winnipeg.

In my Abyss series, I use illustrative techniques to create fantastical intricate worlds where abstract narratives unravel as I personify plants and mundane objects. Recurring dreamscape elements such as mushrooms, eyes, the flow of water, and lily pads frequently appear forming other worldly dream-like vignettes that oscillate between the nightmarish and the fantastical.

Interview Questions

What aspects of your life inspire your art?

I am always inspired by the landscapes and environment around me. I first learned how to paint by painting locations I had come across, such as the Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong. My Chinatown series features acrylic paintings of Chinatown neighborhoods that I have visited before. I was captured by how busy and detailed all the store signs, cars, people advertisements, and street signs looked. Everywhere you looked had its own unique narrative waiting to be unraveled!

What are your preferred mediums and why are you drawn to them?

I mainly work with acrylic paint because I enjoy the feeling of mixing and blending paint with my brushes or fingers. I also started to like digital paint because I can experiment more with color combinations. Digital painting has helped me achieve more harmonious color palettes in my acrylic paintings. 

Where do you see yourself in the future? How do you see your art practice evolving?

I hope to work as a full-time artist in the future, either working in background design, concept art, or illustration. I’d like to evolve my illustrations so that I can open a small business and sell my art in the form of stickers and prints. I’m the happiest when I can draw and express myself freely through my art.

What do you want people to know about you as an artist?

I would like people to know that I’m a Chinese Canadian artist based in Winnipeg. My recent works attempt to reconnect with my Chinese heritage by drawing inspiration from intimate experiences and family histories. 

What is the most significant thing you will take away from your Fine Arts studies?

A significant comment made by a professor made me rethink how I was painting landscapes. Around this point, I was heavily referencing photographs for my landscape pieces. The professor asked, “What are you adding to the painting that the photograph doesn’t have?” This made me realize how important it was to incorporate my own interpretation into my art. In my Abyss series, I started creating dreamscapes by combining landscapes based on reality with fantastical elements.