Chen Gao
Chen Gao is a Chinese interdisciplinary artist, designer, and educator. She earned her MFA in 2D Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art, MI. She will teach as an Assistant Professor at the Cleveland Institute of Art, OH, beginning in Fall 2025. Previously, she taught at Coker University, SC, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL.
Her practice encompasses a diverse range of mediums, including photography, free drawing, sound, poetry, performative installations, and land art. Gao often incorporates locally sourced materials to foster connections between herself and the surrounding environment. Recently, she has focused on textiles and collectible local materials, working their tactile qualities to evoke nostalgia and memories in her installations. She views her work as an act of self-expression that empowers others, constructing spaces where audiences engage when they feel ready.
Gao’s work has been showcased in national and international exhibitions, such as the Mint Museum in NC, the CICA Museum in South Korea, the Griffin Museum of Photography in MA, the Surface Design Association, Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, Tiger Strikes Asteroid Greenville in SC, and iidrr Gallery in NYC, connecting with diverse audiences worldwide.
Her accolades include artist residencies such as the ecoSuites Residency in Greece in 2023 and the upcoming 2026 Château d’Orquevaux Artists Residency in France. Her works have been added to the collections of Red Springs Artspace, CICA Museum, and ecoSuites.
Her work has also been featured in publications such as Canvas Rebel, VoyageLA, Blurb, and Insight of an Eco Artist. Additionally, Gao has served as a panelist for Mid-America Arts Alliance, the City of San Diego Department of Cultural Affairs, and the International Symposium on Electronic/Emerging Art (ISEA2025). She remains dedicated to integrating her professional studio practice with her passion for art education.
Artist Statement
Making work is the way of finding myself.
I like to work with my intuition first and then discover the hidden traces behind it.
Instincts never hide what they did or think, which is more sincere than mine.
I see the world as containers that hold things.
Some are big, some are small.
Some contain others within, while some overlap and intertwine.
They are not fixed.
At times, it is clear and fluid; at others, it dissolves into chaos,
constantly shifting in between boundaries.
Living within ambiguity contains me, sometimes confuses me,
but also leads me to discover the hidden traces that move me forward.
I believe each material has its own personality.
I tend to listen; sometimes they respond.
Over time, we grow familiar and work together.
My work is all about the emotional life of being.
I am not creating a form but finding a sense of belonging in these v o i d s.
Is it black, white, void, or what else?
https://chengao.me/
