Born in China and relocating to the United States at seventeen, Haoyun Erin Zhao is a multidisciplinary artist currently based in San Francisco, California, primarily working in painting, printmaking, and installation.
Zhao’s practice arises from the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures and philosophies, exploring how symbols and motifs carry layered meanings shaped by both cultural context and personal experience. Many of these motifs are drawn from nature, including birds, wings, and plants, as well as elemental and formless forces such as water, fire, wind, and Qi. Her background in calligraphy and ink painting has cultivated an interest in capturing the essence of things and experiences, navigating the space between presence and absence. This sensibility guides her approach to abstraction, where translucency and layered gestures evoke the fluidity of perception and the subtle rhythms of existence.
Zhao is the recipient of Swatch Art Peace Hotel Residency (Shanghai, China), Golden Foundation for the Arts (New York, U.S.), Meta Open Arts (Burlingame, U.S.), Edition/Basel Residency (Basel, Switzerland), Kala Art Institute Residency (Berkeley, U.S), etc. The artist’s work has been showcased at renowned venues including the Exploratorium Museum, de Young Museum, and the International Print Center New York. Her work is in collections such as Google, IBM, LinkedIn, ICBC, Meta, Kaiser Permanente, Boston Children’s Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and numerous private collections.