Artist Statement

My work explores abstraction as a language of subtle expression, where struggle and vulnerability are transformed into contemplative forms. Rooted in both Eastern and Western cultural lineages, I am drawn to traditions that honor what is left unsaid: the Daoist ideals of emptiness and stillness, and the atmosphere of ancient European architecture designed for holiness and reflection. These spaces, with their chiaroscuro light, translucent stained glass, and vast interiors, share with Chinese painting the belief that absence can carry as much power as presence.

Layering and concealment are central to my process. I build images through accumulation and restraint, guided by the Chinese principle of hánxù (subtlety) and the practice of liúbái (leaving blank space), where suggestion invites the imagination. In dialogue with this quietude, I draw from Renaissance and Baroque aesthetics: dramatic contrasts of light and shadow, restrained palettes, and a sense of transcendence through scale and atmosphere. Together, these influences form a hybrid language of the two cultures: emotional yet restrained, personal yet open-ended.

The imagery often turns to nature’s most fluid forms — water, clouds, smoke, bubbles, wind. Water, in particular, recurs as a metaphor for resilience and duality: calm on the surface yet turbulent beneath, fragile in appearance yet impossible to wound. Its shifting states mirror my own negotiations with concealment and intensity, allowing fragility, strength, and transformation to emerge within abstraction.

For me, artmaking is a meditative practice; a way of distilling struggle into layered form, where pain becomes less about suffering than about renewal. Each work is both deeply personal and deliberately open, inviting viewers into a contemplative space of silence and awe. Meaning is not prescribed but discovered: as light filtering through glass, or as emptiness within a painted surface. In this quiet encounter, I hope the work becomes not only an extension of my own healing but also a mirror for others to reflect upon themselves.

Biography

Alexandra Yuan (b. 1995, China) is a contemporary artist raised in Canada and currently based in New York. Her practice spans painting, printmaking, mixed media, and installation, where she explores abstraction as a way to transform vulnerability and resilience into contemplative visual forms.

She is pursuing an MFA in Fine Arts at the School of Visual Arts (SVA), New York, where she continues to refine her artistic vision. Prior to this, she earned a Master’s degree in Integrated Marketing from New York University and a BA in Economics from the University of British Columbia, Canada. This multidisciplinary background informs her practice, allowing her to merge analytical rigor with poetic expression.

Yuan draws inspiration from both Eastern and Western traditions: from the Daoist principles of subtlety and emptiness to the dramatic interplay of light and shadow found in Renaissance and Baroque spaces of reflection. Nature’s most fluid forms, such as water, clouds, and smoke, recur throughout her work as metaphors for duality and transformation, embodying her interest in the balance between fragility and strength.

She has participated in open studios and exhibitions at SVA during her MFA, and her work is held in private collections. Yuan currently lives and works in Manhattan, New York.