HI, I am
Penny Zhang
Sydney Australia/Shanghai China
Currently in Sydney.
Penny Zhang is a Chinese Australian designer–maker working across ceramics, illustration, and 3D visualisation. Her practice explores themes of identity, emotional connection, and belonging, often drawing inspiration from her relationships with "self" and influence of the surroundings. Blending traditional handmaking with digital aesthetics, she creates tactile, narrative-driven works that investigate well-being, and the invisible spaces between the physical and loose thoughts.
Education
UNSW Art & Design, Sydney, Australia (2019)
Bachelor of Media Arts
UNSW Art & Design, Sydney, Australia (2020 - 2022)
Bachelor of Design
UNSW Art & Design, Sydney, Australia (2023)
Bachelor of Design (Honours)
UNSW Art & Design, Sydney, Australia (2024-Present)
Master of Design
Mixi Studio (弥熹工作室) – Jing de zhen, China(2025)
Advanced WheelThrowing 1-on-1 Program
Prizes & Awards
Dean's List
UNSW Art, Design & Architecture Faculty Prize (2024)
Graduate of the Year Awards (GOTYA) Nomination
Nominated by Katherine Moline, UNSW for "it's for your own good "(2024)
UNSW Art & Design Award Winner
"In My Cat's Dream" (2024)
Frost Design Prize – Highly Commended*
"it's for your own good" (2023)
Exhibition
2025
“Traces of an escaping star”
"Palimpsest", Good space gallery, UNSW, Sydney, Australia
“Traces of an escaping star”
"Cyberdelia" ,Good space gallery, UNSW, Sydney, Australia
2024
“Auspicious Superstition”
Sydney Design Week, UNSW, Sydney, Australia
“Auspicious Superstition”
REVIEW. REACT. RESPOND., Gaffa Gallery, Sydney, Australia
“Home”
Project Market Space, Project 107, Sydney, Australia
“It's for your own good”
Luminocity 2024, UNSW, Sydney, Australia
“It's for your own good”
International Graduate Exhibition, Politecnico di Milano School of Design, Milan, Italy
“Double Happiness”
Co-curator & Exhibitor, Haymarket, Sydney, Australia
“it's for your own good”
A Fresh Perspective, Gallery Lowe and Lee, Sydney, Australia
“it's for your own good”
Liminal Space, Goodspace Gallery, Sydney, Australia
“In My Cat’s Dream”
New Visions in Object Design, AD Space, Sydney, Australia
“Tatalita”
Hurstville 2024 Lunar New Year Festival, Sydney, Australia
2023
"It's for your own good"
UNSW A&D 2023 Annual, UNSW Galleries, Sydney, Australia (December)