Passing By
36" x 50"
Oil and Paper on Canvas
Unreality
48" x 36"
Oil and Paper on Canvas
Blue Sea
36" x 48"
Oil and Paper on Canvas
Past Years
30" x 48"
Oil and Paper on Canvas
Drifting Cloud
30" x 24"
Oil and Paper on Canvas
Picture in Frame
24" x 18"
Oil and Paper on Canvas
In my abstract work, I explore the connection between memory and space. This body of work is inspired by the Chinese character “空间” (Kong Jian), a word rich in meaning—encompassing time, space, the human world, transitional space or state and even the mortuary. Our entire lives unfold within a variety of spaces, and I use this shared character as a conceptual anchor to reflect on what those spaces contain, witness, and leave behind.
I often use rectangular forms—evoking rooms, doors, windows, and cityscapes—to represent these physical and emotional environments. Each composition is a meditation on what happens within these spaces and what remains afterward, in our memories.
My materials include oil paint on Chinese rice paper and canvas, chosen to create a unique texture that merges Eastern and Western aesthetics. This blending of materials and cultures reflects my personal experience of observing, reflecting, and creating in solitude over recent years. Painting, for me, became a form of release and salvation—an intimate act that helped me transcend the limitations of physical space and restricted human connection.
I aim to capture moments—real or imagined—that I wish to preserve. Figures, objects, and abstract forms are placed within structured spaces to express the tension between constancy and change, stability and impermanence, reality and illusion. Through color, texture, and brushwork, I explore how these opposing forces coexist.
I’m continually fascinated by the materiality of paint—its unpredictability and emotional resonance. I focus on the immediate visual impact that arises when shape, color, and texture meet the eye, and the unspoken reasons they affect us the way they do. My work invites viewers to enter these constructed spaces and perhaps find a reflection of their own memories within.
M.A Fine Art- University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
B. F. A. - Central Academy of Art and Design, Beijing, China (now the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University)
(boarding high-school) of Sichauan Fine Art Institute, ChongQing, China.
Solo Exhibition:
Self, Nature, and Choices
May 5 - July 7 2013
San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, San Diego, CA
Obernier Gallery
La Jolla, CA
2006
Emerald Gallery
Seattle WA
2000
Group Exhibition
2021 Cannon Gallery Juried Biennial
William D. Cannon Art Gallery
June 13- August 28, 2021
Gallery Selection
August 3 - October 27, 2019
Sparks Gallery
San Diego, CA
Edge of the Ocean
A Group Show - Feb 19 - May 21, 2017
Sparks Gallery
San Diego, CA
2016 Southern California/Baja Biennia
San Diego Art Institute Dec. 10, 2016 - Jan. 29, 2017
Saatchi Screen
Two paintings in the group screen project at
Saatchi Gallery
London, England
Nov. - Dec. 2015
30 years, Looking Back
Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Sep. 1995
Mexicali Art Museum, Mexicali, MEXICO
Apr. 1993
Tijuana Cultural Center, Tijuana, MEXICO
San Diego , Yokohama Culture Exchange
Sep. 1992
Yokohama Citizen Gallery, Yokohama City, JAPAN
Contact: sherrystudio@gmail.com