Spotlight Artist

Shuling Guo

South
Artist profile photo

Abdomen-2

Abstract pastel shapes with curved lines, soft blues, yellows, and pinks, and two white circles.

colored pencil on paper mounted on board

Born

Abstract pastel shapes in soft rainbow colors blending into each other.

oil on canvas

Featured in New American Paintings1 / 2

Artist Statement

 Painting serves as a daily physical ritual and is a spiritual necessity for me. Through my work I try to draw out the colors and scenes hidden within the labyrinth of memory and extend the perceptible atmosphere of the canvas into a realm beyond.

My life experience shapes my work. In recent years I have been living and traveling on the sea, slowly passing through time and empty space, gradually absorbing changes in environment and nature. In my paintings I weave together the sight and spirit of my journey, creating a bond between the world outside, my inner self, and the canvas. I want the work to hold a sense of focus, calm, and quiet reflection.

Recent creations mainly revolve around the experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, and becoming a mother. This experience has awakened my female consciousness, and I have a strong desire to display, through painting, the process of how the female body grows, splits, stitches, and heals, exploring some mysterious resonance between the structure inside the body and that of the outer universe.

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