Making art is the way to communicate with both my heart and the world surrounding me. My art practice is a combination of sculpture, drawing and installation creating an immersive, dreamlike environment to respond to the unique architectural features of space. Drawing and painting are also a performance for me; I repeat sample elements as if making a record, inviting the viewer into everything that informs the artist’s life, identity, and sense of place. My work is influenced by Chinese folk art. I use labor-intensive, repetitive methods to represent the history of Chinese working people and identity. Many of my works are imbued with cycles of time. I use red because it’s the first color people are able to see, a symbol of the beginning of life.
Jing (Ellen) Xu is a multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Inner Mongolia, China and currently based in Queens, NY. She received BA in Sculpture from Xiamen University, China and an MFA in Photomedia from the University of Washington in Seattle. Xu has participated residencies at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Wassaic Residency and Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts and has received a BRIC Media Arts Fellowship, the Artist Fellowship from Hamiltonian Gallery, DC and the Foundation for Contemporary Art Grant. Her work has been included in exhibitions at ROY G BIV Gallery in Columbus OH; the Asian Art Museum, Seattle, WA; Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, VT; Governors Island Art Fair, NY; Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Seattle, WA and North Dakota Museum of Art, ND etc. Her work has been featured in The Seattle Times, The Washington Post and Hyperallergic.