Suyi Xu

Suyi Xu seeks the patterns and rhythms of the industrial cityscape, drawing inspiration from the industrial powerplant outside her studio in Brooklyn, New York and the gothic arches of nearby Greenwood Cemetery alike. Linking these architectures is Xu’s love of light, seeking signs of devotion, belief, and grace on the glowing stone and reflection on arches, symmetries, and scattered rays. Taking painting as a persistent practice that gives an unending, unspoken voice to her experiences, Xu enfleshes her emotional inner worlds. Inspired by Sacred Geometries, both the natural and manmade that are present in Western and Eastern philosophies, she crafts paintings of light and the transcendental. Xu’s softly glowing works on canvas transport the viewer through gently lit corridors and arches, offering a dream’s journey into a liminal space of quiet and reverent reflection. 

Suyi Xu (b. 1996) graduated with a BA in Art History and Visual Art from Barnard College in 2019, and with a MFA in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in 2022. In addition to a 2024 artist residency with GlogauAIR, Berlin, Xu has exhibited internationally including in New York, Shanghai, Paris, and London. Her paintings can be found in collections such as Powerlong Museum (Shanghai, China), Long Museum (Shanghai, China), and Xiao Museum of Contemporary Art (Rizhao, China). Xu lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.