Nan Zhang is a painter of unease, absence, and longing. Her works are a collection of seemingly banal sequences from her daily life, forming a kind of not-so-intimate journal. Upon closer inspection, one invariably notices static figures, ghostly faces, and ominous objects. A dangerously left-on and forgotten iron, or the dangling cord of a telephone ringing into the void, are just a few of the artifacts that have shaped Nan Zhang’s story. Dark traumas and pleasant reminiscences interweave and coexist without any hierarchy, much like the everyday twists and turns that make our lives so stimulating.

Andy Rankin, Independent Curator(2024)