About the exhibition
Isabella Zhang works in watercolor, colored pencil and pencil, and trains in classical ballet. The two are not separate practices: the dancers in her paintings are the people she dances with, the thread running between them is the kind she uses to sew her pointe shoes, and Giselle — her favorite ballet — is drawn from the place where her two disciplines meet.
Her subjects tend to arrive from somewhere else and are then looked at closely: an article about a woman who sewed teddy bears in army fatigues for the children of deployed soldiers; the endangered species of her own state; the vocabulary of the Civil Rights Movement carried into the present; the line between a hand and a machine. Homebound, the painting that came out of the first of those, was selected to hang in the United States Capitol.
Echoes in Every Stitch was awarded platinum at Colors 2026 — the highest award of that competition — and opens this exhibition. Eight works are shown, each with the artist’s own note on it.
In the artist’s words
All my notes are highlighted, headed, and color-coded in a mural of information. It’s time-consuming and may be slightly overkill, but I discovered that finding beauty in the mundane ignited an unexpected level of joy.
I decided to chase that joy by searching for beauty in unconventional places. So, I turned to my paintbrush and watercolors. Breaking away from the strict realism I had practiced for years prior, I captured a family reunion post-military deployment. The young daughter’s eyes pierce those of the audience, who look down and away, only to spot her tight grasp on an army gear-clad teddy bear. Hanging in the U.S. Capitol, the piece gained attention from all over the nation, with viewers ranging from a naval officer of 30 years to my school clerk reaching out and expressing how cathartic the piece was for them. In this way, I found myself connected to both the service and the people of our nation. I had discovered the haunting beauty of sacrifice that forms the foundation of our nation.
Thus, I realized that my art had the power to evoke emotion. When my grandmother visited, arms laden with knitting needles and spools of yarn, I drew a parallel to the same needle and thread I use to sew my pointe shoes. And so began a piece focused on a set of wise hands that wove together a tradition of creativity inherited through the generations. I was thrilled to connect with many of my local art community members who had similar stories to tell. They, too, saw the beauty within each crease and valley of wrinkles that told a story of endless life and artistry.
It’s easy to depict images exactly as they appear. But, taking a moment to appreciate the beauty all around us is the essence of feeling and the root of human connection, whether it’s in some class notes or a painstakingly developed painting. After all, beauty is not simply in the eye of the beholder, it’s in the heart too.
Selected awards
- Congressional Art Competition, California’s Third Congressional District — 1st Place (April 2024)
- California State Fair Art Student Showcase, California Exposition — 3rd Place (2025, Painting; 2024, Drawing) and Honorable Mention (2024, Painting)
- Scholastic Art & Writing Awards — Silver Medal National Awardee, Painting (2026); American Visions Nominee, Painting (2026); Gold Key Regional Winner, Drawing/Illustration and Painting (2024, 2026); Silver Key Regional Winner, Drawing/Illustration (2023)
- Americanism/Patriotic Award, presented by American Legion Auxiliary Unit 832 at the California State Fair Art Student Showcase — 1st Place (September 2024)
- Rocklin Fine Arts Student Show — 1st Place (2026) and 3rd Place (2025)