Thursday Salute to Originals: Light My Way Home
Artificial light augments gorgeous acrylic paintings of idyllic natural settings.
In a series of neon light paintings, New-York based painter GiGi Chen creates surreal portraits of bird subjects against the backdrop of striking sky-scapes, forest, and urban settings.
The vibrant neon contrasts with the natural subjects, augmenting leaves, feathers, and jewelry, illuminating portraits with bright hues of pink, green and blue.
Each portrait is inspired by Chen’s own life experience as a first-generation immigrant to New York from China. Themes of family and home are present in each painting.
“Here, we are seeking the sense of safety and stability that my mother once represented to us and endlessly chasing the Ideal of Home,” said Chen in an interview with This Is Colossal.
This Thursday, we’re saluting both the life story and imagination behind GiGi Chen’s neon bird paintings. The Light My Way Home series will be on display in the Antler Gallery in Portland through October 24. You can view more neon portraits on Chen’s Instagram.
Sources: GiGi Chen, This is Colossal