My art is an extension of my inner thoughts. As someone who holds many emotions inside, direct communication isn’t easy for me, so my work becomes a way to express complex feelings. Through art, I can convey thoughts that words can’t capture.

I enjoy blending painting, sculpture, and installation art, using mixed media to bring my ideas to life. In the early stages, I jot down fragments of inspiration as text or sketches and experiment with various materials. My process is open-ended, allowing ideas to evolve and even shift from their original form. Art, for me, is a channel to connect with viewers emotionally, inviting them to experience my perspective.

Looking ahead, I aim to explore more materials to expand my creative expression.

Can you share more about your journey from Beijing to New York? How has living and studying in NYC influenced your artistic practice?

KG: I chose to attend a university in New York City because I see it as a global hub for art—a diverse and inclusive city with abundant artistic resources. Having attended high school on Long Island, I frequently visited the city, so while adapting to a new environment was challenging, New York felt relatively familiar to me.

Living and studying at an art school here has been an exciting experience. The city's fast-paced rhythm and vibrant artistic atmosphere have allowed me to engage with world-class exhibitions and explore diverse forms of art up close. This environment has encouraged me to experiment with different media and styles, while also focusing more on using art to express my personal experiences and emotions.

In some ways, Beijing and New York are quite similar. They share a comparable climate and a fast-paced urban lifestyle, which made adjusting to life in New York somewhat easier for me. At the same time, living in a city so far from home has broadened my perspective. Even after four years in New York, I feel there’s still so much to discover—it continues to surprise me in unexpected ways.

Your work spans painting, sculpture, and installation. How do you decide which medium to use for a specific project?

KG: I don’t consciously decide on the medium based on how I want to present the work to the audience. Instead, the idea often comes fully formed in my mind, including the medium I want to use. From the moment I have a creative concept, I already have a vision of the material or approach I’ll take—it’s an intuitive process.

That said, I do experiments and test different ways to achieve the image or feeling I have in mind. I enjoy working with mixed media and exploring the sense of interaction it creates with the audience. The creative process often involves trial and error, adjusting and refining until I find the most fitting way to bring my ideas to life.

You’ve shared that art is an extension of your inner thoughts. How do your emotions and personal experiences shape your creative process?

KG: Sometimes my creative process begins with my own emotions, while other times it starts with the theme of the work. I’m not entirely sure if I see art as purely an emotional release—it feels more complex than that.

For example, when I created my piece Goldfish, I received a lot of feedback from the audience. One viewer shared that she felt deeply moved after experiencing the work. She had been feeling depressed due to some personal struggles, but watching the piece gave her a sense of awakening. That reaction surprised me—it wasn’t something I intentionally aimed for, but it was exactly what I hoped my work could achieve.

I believe everyone brings their own stories to a piece of art, so their reactions and interpretations will always be unique. My hope is that what I create can offer viewers a moment of reflection or even their own realizations.

Experimentation with materials is central to your practice. Can you describe a recent project where trying something new led to an unexpected result?

KG: I enjoy experimenting with different materials because it brings me new experiences and a sense of curiosity about the unknown. Working with something I’ve never tried before often carries uncertainty, which I find intriguing. Sometimes, I’m not sure if the final result will align with my initial vision, but that uncertainty can lead to surprising outcomes.

In my work Inside, I used cyanotype as one of the materials, and there were some unexpected results. When exposing it under a UV lamp, the close proximity of the lamp caused the imprint of the bulb’s shape to appear on the surface. While this wasn’t what I had originally planned, it was an interesting discovery. After some adjustments and further trials, I was able to achieve the result I envisioned, but the “test pieces” also held their own charm. I didn’t see them as failures—they were surprising and inspiring in their own way.

What role does intuition play in your creative process, and how do you maintain this openness while developing cohesive works?

KG: Intuition is at the core of my creative process. Sometimes, my work starts as a spontaneous idea that I quickly jot down as a sketch or a note. I revisit these ideas later, developing them gradually as I work on them. The process often involves refining and adjusting step by step, based on how things unfold in real time.

Most of the time, I follow a rough vision—a preliminary concept—and let the work evolve organically. I believe openness and coherence are not contradictory but complementary. The spontaneous ideas sparked by intuition are often the most exciting, while coherence helps to shape those ideas into a complete framework. Together, they create a balance that drives my creative process.

Your work is deeply personal yet aims to connect with others emotionally. How do you approach balancing these perspectives in your art?

KG: I don’t typically consider the audience’s perspective during the creative process; my focus is more on expressing my own emotions and experiences. However, I use open-ended visual language, such as abstract forms, to allow viewers the freedom to interpret the work in their own way, rather than confining them to my personal story.

For me, the emotions in my work are deeply personal, but I understand that viewers will bring their own feelings and experiences to it. What I express might feel like anxiety or loss to me, but someone else might interpret it differently—and that openness is something I value in my art.