Gallery Reception | Jiamin Zhu: Secret Garden |SODO

# Gallery Reception | Jiamin Zhu: Secret Garden

Sat, Apr 11 | Gallery B612 | SODO

April 11 - May 16, 2026
You are invited to join us for the opening of local artist Jiamin Zhu's photography exhibition Jiamin Zhu: Secret Garden. Zhu uses digital photography and distinctive post-processing techniques to create whimsical images that blend reality with imagination, transforming human subjects into enchanting, magical creatures from another realm. Zhu describes her creative process as both experiment and therapy, and challenges herself to look more deeply into otherwise ordinary portraits to uncover alternative stores. By embracing playful and outlandish editing palettes, she approaches each image as an open-ended inquiry, tapping into her inner child to experiment in a way that mirrors life itself.

Opening Reception
April 1 | 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Jiamin Zhu: Secret Garden
April 11 - May 16, 2026
We are pleased to present Secret Garden, a solo exhibition by Seattle-based photographer Jiamin Zhu. Working at the intersection of fashion, fantasy, and portraiture, Zhu transforms her subjects into dreamlike figures that exist between reality and imagination. Drawing inspiration from childhood memories, fairytales, and inner emotional landscapes, her work explores themes of beauty, illusion, and transformation.

Through elaborate styling, digital photography, and painterly post-processing, each image becomes a portal—an invitation to step into a world shaped by the artist’s inner child.Jiamin Zhu is also the featured artist behind the official playbill and poster for the Ojak Bridge Art & Dance Festival 2024, themed 'Scheherazade: One Thousand and One Nights'. Her work expands beyond photography into cinematic storytelling and visual world-building.

This exhibition is presented in alignment with the upcoming Ojak Watch Party on April 19, creating a dialogue between visual art and performance, and offering audiences a deeper glimpse into the dreamlike universe connecting both.

SPECIAL PROGRAM

In conjunction with the Ojak Watch Party
April 19, 2026 at Central Cinema
From image to performance, from fantasy to stage.
www.ojakfestival.org

# Read more about the exhibition on our blog:

https://www.galleryb612.com/post/gallery-b612-metamorphosis-secret-garden

Floral / Beauty
A celebration of softness, femininity, and fleeting beauty.
These works draw from nature—flowers, petals, and organic forms—to create quiet, intimate moments suspended in time.

Featured Works:

• The Girl with the Orange Dahlias
• Seattle’s First Blossom
• A Fairy’s Nap

Myth / Fantasy
Figures emerge as empresses, goddesses, and mythical beings—existing in a world beyond reality.
These works expand portraiture into narrative, transforming identity into legend.

Featured Works:

• The Empress
• Elven Moon Goddess
• Moon Mermaid

Illusion / Philosophy
A deeper, more introspective body of work exploring perception, impermanence, and illusion.
Inspired by poetic and philosophical ideas, these images question what is real and what is merely reflected.

Featured Work:

• Image in the Mirror, Moon in the Water