Next Big Thing: Vivien Zhang

Pringles, butterflies, spiral columns, and kilim rugs all cohabitate in Vivien Zhang’s paintings, distinguished by their dense and unexpected mark making. A seemingly disparate array of recurring motifs, symbols, and fragmented patterns defines the London artist’s painterly language. “When I come across something that visually captures my curiosity, I do a deep dive into it,” she explains. “If there are conceptual or philosophical ideas behind the inspiration that resonate with me and that I feel would also reverberate with an audience, then it enters my collection of references and eventually my work.”

Personal inspiration: Zhang’s upbringing took her from Beijing to Nairobi, Kenya, where she moved at age ten with her single mother, then from Bangkok to London. “I encountered poverty, passing by slums on the way to school and different ways of life. It couldn’t have been further from the city upbringing in Beijing,” she says of the experiences that shape her layered, textured style today.

Creative flow: Zhang considers her works unconventional landscapes, describing them as “geographies” that challenge the relationship between foreground and background. “Depth is no longer defined in the traditional way. Our ways of reading space have changed.”

“Vivien’s canvases layer motifs from diverse contexts to challenge how we read identity, landscape, and belonging in a global digital age,” says Komal Shah, Collector and Founder of Making Their Mark Foundation.

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2025 Winter issue under the headline “Next Big Things.” Subscribe to the magazine.