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Emily Zou

Artist member since 2021
Toronto, Ontario

I am a Toronto-based Canadian-Chinese multimedia artist, sculptor, illustrator, painter, and maker of earrings. My art practice is deeply rooted in my lifelong struggle with mental health, and even as a child, I found refuge in art making. It is a safe space where I can navigate deeply felt emotions like a puzzle. Across all mediums, a visual language composed of obsessive detail, entanglement, darkness, and light embodies an emotional and turbulent psychological world. I have vivid, surreal, whimsical, and illogical dreams that inspire my drawings and paintings. Beginning in 2020 (because of quarantine and climate anxiety), I played with found materials to declutter my apartment without disposing of anything. This experiment burgeoned into a series of sculptures that symbolize the human experience where chaotic energy, unlikely objects, and trash take on a new life.

My earliest artistic influences include the beautiful hand-drawn and hand-painted illustrations in search-and-find and children’s books. It was a joyous experience to escape into fantastically crafted worlds. Here sprouted my adoration for detail and the desire to create a similar search-and-find experience for viewers. As destiny propelled me into city life, 9+ years of crowds, human-made structures, and materialism have made their way into my art, and climate uncertainty fuels my desire to upcycle and inspire people to do the same. I want my art to spark dialogue where our vulnerabilities and fragilities can be shared and seen, for people to see their darkness as a source of strength rather than a deficiency, and for people to see potential in what society defines as “trash.”

As a 2020 OCAD University alumna, I have exhibited my work at Nuit Blanche, the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, Mackenzie Investments, Propeller Art Gallery, Northern Contemporary Gallery, Gallery 1313, John B. Aird Gallery, Florence Contemporary Gallery, The Jackalope Contemporary Art Gallery, the University of Toronto, OCAD University, and featured in Existere - Journal of Arts & Literature, and the 2020 Mental Health Europe Empowerment Webinar.


Work


Inside the Studio


Q+A

I'm really good at making (a) ...

I have a personal recipe for homemade spicy vegan dumplings.

Favourite artist(s) right now

Shaun Tan, Tanabe Chiku’unsai IV, Winnie Truong, and Ed Pien.

What places do you hang out in Toronto?

I love a quiet coffee shop.

Favourite musical artist / band right now

Aurora Aksnes.

Favourite book

"The Arrival" by Shaun Tan.

Who do you consider a genius?

Diane Pugen.

Upcoming Exhibitions
2024-03-06

The Jackalope Gallery
Courage Show

Select Past Exhibitions
2024

Northern Contemporary Gallery
Fix Up Look Sharp

2024

Propeller Art Gallery
Perpetually Emerging

2023

Blitz Art Gallery
Nuit Blanche

2023

Toronto Outdoor Art Fair (Nathan Philips Square)
TOAF62

2023

Propeller Art Gallery
How I See You

2022

Propeller Art Gallery
Off the Wall

2022

OCAD U
Time Spinning

2022

Propeller Art Gallery
Twenty Something

2022

Propeller Art Gallery
and all of a sudden

2022

City Arts and Institute of Mental Health, Nottingham (online)
Re-Imagine

2022

Revival Event Centre
The Pancakes & Booze Art Show

2022

Mackenzie Investments
Creating Inclusive Spaces

2022

STEPS Public Art
Yue Moon 完滿: Tiger With Wings 如虎添翼

2021

Florence Contemporary Gallery (online)
Limitless (FINALIST)

2021

John B. Aird Gallery (online)
Mistletoe Magic

2021

Propeller Art Gallery
Off The Wall

2021

Gallery 1313
The End

2021

Toronto Outdoor Art Fair (online)
TOAF60

2021

Purple Glow Magazine (online)
Bloom Fest

2021

Apocalypse Exhibition (online)
APOCALYPSE: The Here and Now

2021

Propeller Art Gallery (online)
Salon 15

2021

OCAD U (online)
Made to Love: Our Love Language Mystery Art Auction

2020

OCAD U (online)
GradEx 105

2020

Propeller Art Gallery (online)
Off The Screen

2020

Social Distance Gallery (online)
Intellectually Engaged

2020

Mental Health Ireland (online)
Empowering Recovery - The 2020 Mental Health Europe Empowerment Webinar

2020

The Gathered Gallery (online)
The Class of 2020

2020

Propeller Art Gallery (online)
Drawing & Painting Class of 2020 GradEx105 Show

2020

OCAD U
Festival of the Body

2020

OCAD U
Art Prom

2020

OCAD U
10th Anniversary Awenda Inspired

2019

OCAD U
Ada Slaight Studios Celebration

2018

Claude T. Bissell Building, University of Toronto
ART x BISSELL 2018 Art & Mindfulness

2018

Serpa M. Gallery (Old Town Hall, Newmarket)
Beam On

2018

OCAD U
Hindsight

2018

E11even
E11even Restaurant Silent Auction

2018

The Big Picture Art Project (online)
The Big Picture Art Project

2017

OCAD U
36th Manning Awards Symposium

2017

Serpa M. Gallery (Old Town Hall, Newmarket)
Mindfulness: The Power of Art

2016

OCAD U
Positivi-tea Show

2016

OCAD U
Awenda Exhibition

2016

OCAD U
First Year Celebration Show

2016

OCAD U
Ada Slaight Reception

2016

Covernotes Coffee House
#10000ALLIES

2013

University of Toronto
Nuit Blanche (Doors of Hope)

Accolades
2020

OCADU
Anne Adler Kagan Award

2019

OCADU
Frances Lea Ziegler Memorial Scholarship

2019

OCADU
St. George's Society of Toronto Bursary in Art & Design in Honour of Rosalie Sharp

2018

OCADU
Marsh Urquhart Memorial Scholarship

2018

OCADU
Women's Art Association of Canada Lynne Ritchie Scholarship

2017

OCADU
Sully Corth Memorial Fund Scholarship

2016

OCADU
Project 31 Drawing and Painting Award

2015

OCADU
Delaney Scholarship

Press
2021

Withintensions
Volume 23, November 2021, "Filters"

2020

OCADU
OCADU Drawing & Painting Catalogue 2020

2020

Acta Victoriana
AV 144.1.

2019

Polemical Zine
Issue 10, Volume 2, "Sweet"

2018

Acta Victoriana
AV 143.1.

Education
2021

OCADU
Graphic Design & Visual Communication Skills, Continuing Studies Certificate Program

2020

OCADU
Drawing & Painting, BFA

2019

DJCAD
Fine Art, Exchange Program

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