Nanxi Huang
Nanxi Huang (b.2000) is a Brooklyn-based Chinese-American artist. She began her academic career studying biological science before shifting toward fine art painting after a major realization she had. Before studying art at Pratt Institute, she had already started painting her biomorphic creatures, who were heavily influenced by specimens she observed under a microscope. She finds her creatures euphemistic while exploring different relationships she has witnessed and experienced throughout her life. The colorful creatures strongly contrast her responses to the world around her. With her interest in exploring the perspectives of women in society, she started working on the series Motherhood, then continued developing her style to express her feelings about being a daughter, a woman, and a person in society. Nanxi’s art is focused on visually translating her responses to what she observed, experienced, and questioned as well as the appreciation of modernity.
“I pay close attention to my surroundings, especially people. Why are they acting a certain way? Why do I perceive certain feelings? I will think for days, weeks, or years to seek possible answers. I conclude these questions and observations with my paintings. My use of oil, acrylics, and oil pastels emphasizes the vibrant, colorful worlds I create for my creatures; and further contracts colorful playfulness and deep, emotional topics I observe in my surroundings.
I like to work with large canvases and sit on the floor with the canvas, almost so it engulfs me. I enjoy the process of constantly standing up to hold the canvas to paint one part, then sitting back down again. Sometimes I lean forward or bring the canvas towards me like I am having a conversation with it. The creatures I paint and I work collaboratively to visualize my response. I start with a rough sketch while picturing a blurry final painting result in my head. Then I just paint, and let my hands flow in colors”.
Nanxi Huang’s work has been selected for The 2024 Musée du Louvre Contemporary Art Exhibition “ROTOR”.
Group exhibition “Choose Your World” Utica, 2023
Group exhibition at Munson, Utica 2023
Group exhibition, “Retrieve”, Beijing, 2021