Emma x Zhang (EXZ) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Melbourne, Australia. Her artistic expression spans a diverse range of mediums, including mixed media, new media and installations.
EXZ graduated with a Master of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). EXZ received the NAVA Ignition Prize from the National Association for the Visual Arts, and was the 2023 winner in the Digital Art category of the Global Design Graduation Show. Collaboration is central to her practice: with Rhys Cousins, she created “The Möbius Universe” (RMIT Swanston Library), “The Eye Touch” (Sorse Gallery) and “Hold Sway” (Maroondah Federation Estate Gallery). Since her residency at Manang Artist Residency in 2025, she has presented live audiovisual performances for Platform Present and ACMI Experimental Forum, and shown at INSEQUENCE (curated by SIRC_UIT, Blue Mountain, Sydney), and held a solo exhibition at Whitehorse Art Gallery, Box Hill.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Emma x Zhang’s practice explores colour across light projection, multimedia and mixed media, conveying a vivid spectrum of visual experience. Zhang harnesses the transient nature of light to reveal digitally manipulated archives and natural phenomena, transforming them through methods such as 3D pipelines, camera work, and digital layering and manipulation into a space between fragmented abstraction and an otherworldly hyper-realm. Rooted in an interest in design and technology, EXZ’s work continuously investigates new ways of seeing.
EDUCATION
2023 Master of Fine Art
RMIT University, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
2014 – 2016 Bachelor of Design (Communication Design)
RMIT University, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025 “Insequence”, duo live audiovisual performance, Sirc-uit, Sydney, Australia
2025 “Bugskin”, audiovisual performance, Platform Presents, The Mission to Seafarers Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
2025 “Phantasm”, & audiovisual performance, Platform Presents x HER – Dinner AFTER parties, Howler, Melbourne, Australia
2024 “Hold Sway“, duo Exhibition, Maroondah Federation Estate Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2024 “The Eye Touch“, duo Exhibition, Sorse Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2024 “Mirage in Temporal Hues“, Square & Friends Gallery, Nicolas Building, Melbourne, Australia
2023 “Enter The Underworld“, Google Arts & Culture Online Exhibit: Fine Art / Photography / Craft Winners 2023 — Global Design Graduate Show, collaboration with Gucci, Arts Thread
2023 “Mystic Sips: Realm Unveiled”, Out of the World, Platform Exhibitions, Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne, Australia
2023 “Muta-Morphosis”, WITNESS: A Night of Art and Music, RUSU After Dark, Melbourne, Australia
2023 “Symmetry”, The Elastic Mind, The Broward College South Gallery, Florida, United States
2023 “Enter the Underworld”, video for “Chromaphilia Dreams” Outdoor Screen, Bunjil Place, Melbourne, Australia
2023 “Floating Reflection: A journey into the unseen world“, Platform Exhibitions, Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne, Australia
2022 “Enter the Red”, Lateral Prompt, Miscellania, Melbourne, Australia
2022 “Digital Wonderscape“, Art School Graduation Show 2022, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia
2022 “Enter the Underworld”, Lateral Prompt, Miscellania, Melbourne, Australia
2022 “Skinless” WOMEN* NOW, Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, Melbourne, Australia
2022 “Translumia” Testing Grounds Public Art Park, Melbourne, Australia
2022 “Nanometamorph“, After Walter Hopps, Platform Arts, Geelong, Australia
2022 “Translumia“, The Cure, Preston, Melbourne, Australia
2021 “Simulations“, RMIT MFA Annual Auction, Online
AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
2025 Manang Artist Residency, Spring 2025, Annapurna Sanctuary, Ngawal, Nepal
2024 The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) NAVA Ignition Prize
2023 “Enter The Underworld“, Joint winner of the Digital Arts category, Global Design Graduate Show 2023, Arts Thread in collaboration with Gucci.
2022 “The Möbius Universe“, competition winner featuring Rhys Cousins, Swanston Library, RMIT University, Victoria.