Arising and passing

Ebullient, compelling brushwork is evident throughout the work of artist Jeana Zhenyu Zhang, presenting her first solo show with VillageOneArt this Fall. Zhang’s solo show, Arising and passing, remains on view at VillageOneArt through October 24, 2026. The exhibit features recent work consisting of delicate, elevated paintings. Balancing elements of both abstraction and representational stylings, Zhang’s paintings mine her considerable education and acumen in expressing her sensibility through both Eastern and Western painting traditions. Acrylic paint and ink washes blend freely across wood, canvas and retted flax, forming hybrid composites that concretely nod to her cross-cultural experience living and working in both China and the United States. Zhang’s embrace of ink painting was an intentional return to the root of her academic art studies in China, prior to moving to the US to continue her studies in California and then, later New York City. “I was in search of a medium that could best serve me,” reflects Zhang, “so I decided to trace back to my earlier training and my roots.” In embracing the roots of her painting practice, the artist also creates original methods of pushing her painting practice further into innovation and hybridity. By incorporating heated metallic compounds into the acrylic paint splashed across her meticulous works in ink and acrylic, the artist infuses traditional methods with a blend of aleatory yet ingenious methods of exploring compositional frameworks. Zhang’s efforts to “create a new logic of painting” by syncretizing methods she has learned over layered educational experiences effortlessly blends together, resulting in elegant and mysterious works. The artist is adept at building suspense through layers of paint and ink: she maneuvers lines and angles of still-wet medium across the surface by consciously tilting it, forming new elements that coalesce in each inimitable and masterful painting. Fresh yet timeless, Zhang’s.