Mei Zhao, Golden Snappers, ceramic, various sizes, 2026
Mei Zhao, Terraced garden III, acrylic, sand and pastel on canvas, 137x183cm
Mei Zhao’s embodied landscape paintings trace former sites of Chinese market gardens in the Northern Beaches, including sites in Manly Vale, Curl Curl, Brookvale, Palm Beach, and the Basin.
In her new ceramic installation series, Fishing Golden Snappers, Zhao also explores Chinese fish-drying businesses in Broken Bay from the 1850s to the late 1870s. Supported by original historical findings and practice-based research, Zhao's paintings and ceramics are coupled with historical writings from curator Dr Daniel Press.
Publication with writings by Dr Daniel Press, Dr Luise Guest, and members from the Manly, Warringah, Pittwater Historical Society, Tina Graham & Bob Pauling.
Location
- Curl Curl Creative Space, 105 Abbott Rd, North Curl Curl NSW 2096
Exhibition Opening Hours
- Open on: Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
- Thu 4 Jun - Sun 21 Jun, 12pm - 5.30pm
Public Programs
Opening reception
Sue Heins, Mayor of Northern Beaches Council will be opening the exhibition.
- Featuring an artist talk with Mei Zhao and opening remarks by curator Dr Luise Guest.
- Sun 7 Jun, 2 - 4pm
Make your own clay fish
- 12 - 5.30pm, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
Proudly supported by Northern Beaches Council.
About the artist
Mei Zhao is a Chinese-born, Sydney-based landscape artist working in painting and installation. Her practice unearths Chinese migrant histories embedded within Australian landscapes, focusing on historical Chinese market gardens across Sydney and regional New South Wales.
Her connection to Chinese gardens and agricultural labour is shaped by her early experience as a youth farm labourer during the Cultural Revolution in 1970s China, alongside her lived experience as an Australian immigrant. Through this lens, she approaches landscape as a site of ecological and topographic memory, cultural transformation, and emotional resonance.
Zhao holds a Bachelor of Fine Art (2019) and a Master of Fine Art (2022) in Painting from the National Art School. In 2023, she was awarded a Create NSW research grant, leading to her commissioned solo exhibition Remapping Erased Landscapes at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery (2025).
Contact Information
Mei Zhao
Daniel Press
Location
Curl Curl Creative Space 105 Abbott Rd
North Curl Curl NSW 2096