Yangzi Xu
Naperville, Illinois
Artist Yangzi Xu captures the beauty of seasonal changes in her expressionist cityscapes. Having spent most of her life in Chicago, she began viewing the city in a new light after finding inspiration from her previous watercolor teacher. Using fluid and rough strokes, along with a limited color palette, Yangzi creates dramatic and evocative scenes. I try to capture the paradox of life in the city, where one can be in a crowd yet feel alone, Yangzi says. Her creative process involves managing a queue of ideas and reference photos, sketching with pencils to plan compositions and value designs, and working on multiple pieces simultaneously. In her well-organized spare bedroom studio, Yangzi listens to music as she paints, finding it a pleasant distraction that allows her to focus on the creative process without fixating on the result. In her free time, Yangzi enjoys reading, with biographies and memoirs currently being her favorite genres.
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Artist Statement
I have discovered something magical about city streets and weather. The reflection of car lights and traffic signals on a rainy day, the blurry silhouettes of buildings when the streets are snow-covered, the endless play of light and weather — these elements dominate my art. My medium is oil and I paint fluid and rough strokes with both brush and palette knife, using a limited color palette that’s intended to be evocative. My main intent is not to capture the physical reality of a scene, but to express my own moods and feelings, as well as to trigger personal memories and emotions in my audience as they form their own interpretation of each piece.
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