Penny Zhang

Penny Zhang is a Chinese Australian designer–maker who combines ceramics, illustration, textiles, and 3D visualisation to create playful yet thought-provoking forms. Her practice often explores identity, societal expectation, and emotional vulnerability, weaving storytelling with tactile materials and digital processes to evoke familiarity and intimacy. Penny’s works blur the line between object and story, inviting audiences to engage both physically and emotionally. Her recent project explores the impact of binary gender social constructs using the apple as a recurring motif. Combining installation and illustration, it visualises stages of self-awareness and conformity while inviting reflection on inherited beliefs and gender expectations.