Shuai Xu

Biography

Shuai Xu’s works focus on the invisible world, and a lot of inspiration comes from his dreams. His interests lie in humanity's relationship to the cosmos, particularly as it plays out on Earth through the relationship between individuals and nature.

Artist Statement

My current works focus largely on the invisible world, and much of my inspiration comes from my dreams. I am interested in humanity's relationship to the cosmos, particularly as it plays out here on Earth, in the relationship between individuals and nature. Through my art, I hope to explore my interior world more deeply while expanding outward, while engaging society and beyond.
I am drawn to the concept and meaning of dreams because every one of us is familiar with them. In dreams, we can experience a new world through the virtual displacement of time and space. It is through this virtual world that I draw the artistic inspiration that I need. The same is true of the night sky; I have had fantasies about the night sky since childhood, and it has also become a source of inspiration. Both my works and I are searching for a state of unity between individuals and nature, and we care about everything in the world.
The dream world is an invisible world, but we as a society cannot deny its existence. I proceed by “plagiarizing” scenes from my dreams, incorporating them into my work and giving them three-dimensional form in physical reality. However, this does not mean that every one of my paintings comes directly from my dreams. I record the content of my dreams indirectly, improvising and adapting, depending upon the materials I am using and the formats in which I am working. My goal, as an artist, is to use my dreams to establish a more profound connection with the real world, which viewers can experience. My works, in whatever media, are different from my original dreams, which have been transformed or altered because of the conscious thoughts that have gone into their creation. But it is undeniable that what initially motivated my ideas for these works came from my dreams.
On some occasions, my paintings lead me to create works of land art. Because a painting is contained within a limited space that allows the imagination limitless freedom, it gives me the opportunity to freely conceive various landscapes in my mind. In a sense, painting sometimes functions as a sketch or a study for a work of land art to me. My land art uses the land as a canvas to form a visually vast landscape which allows me to explore the relationship between human beings and nature, and even between human beings and the universe. Whether my works originate in dreams or in the vastness of the cosmos, they come from otherwise invisible worlds that are often overlooked by society at large. By making them the focus of my art, I can bring more attention to the value and importance they have in our world.
I hope that my works will move viewers away from cynicism and contempt, and instead create the opportunity to experience moments of contemplation and reflection.

Country USA

Website www.shuai-xu.com