Guoguo Art

The Contrasts series is comprised of 3 medium-sized paintings and 2 black and white miniatures. The first, Quarantine Windows was painted during the first month that the Covid- 19 pandemic came to Norway, and its contrasting colors of red and yellow show the sun and moon of the world, while the diverse windows give people a limited view onto the world during isolation. Whale and Wave (2 black & white miniatures) remind us of the power of nature, with hidden contrasts in black and white. Inexplicable Gear shows our attempts to alter something complex, even in ways that are not possible. Twisting Layers depicts rotations and textured spirals as we try to return to nature.

The Chinese Dreams series was developed partly out of nostalgia for China, where the artist has been unable to visit to see family for nearly 2.5 years due to pandemic travel restrictions. Pear Flower Scent on Teacher's Day was painted on China's national Teacher's Day to represent how flowers can bloom and scatter in a way that represents the ideas and students of a great teacher. The Ginkgo Leaf's Flight is intended to show how lovely leaves of the Gingko, a common ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, can be lightly tossed in the breeze. One Day, Two Festivals is the most difficult painting to explain to those who are not Chinese, but it represents how two deeply meaningful festivals occur on the same day in China, the National Day and the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Organic Unraveling series came after a time that the artist's Father had painful spinal surgery. In modern life, many people develop back problems from too much sitting in one place, which is why traditional Chinese massage can be an important practice for everyone to learn, so they can relax and be healthy. Dragon Spine is a fantastical image of compound textures, while Spinal Tap shows unraveling materials from the spinal column, and Vertebral Spring shows explosive springing out of black follicles of nerve endings.

The Blue Miniatures series features various images associated with cool water, ice crystals, and other natural forms. Siberian Lilies by Water is inspired by remarkable flowers that unexpectedly grew in spring beside the artist's home. Ice Crystals on Snow displays surprising textures encountered during walks in the Norwegian forest. Secret Garden depicts layers of frozen leaves in winter that obscure an opening. Crystal Staircase shows layers of reflective depth, while Muddled Maze challenges us to find a path through the cold confusion.

The Betwixt Webs series displays web-like textures from various angles. These include Grass-Web, which shows gossamer twisting through blades of grass, Life-Web, which depicts a life force threatened by pitch-black angst, and Space-Web, which challenges us to enter a woven space to a new dimension.

Two relatively large independent paintings are included in the exhibition. Mossy Numerals is a work that reveals numbers constructed of mossy stones that are juxtaposed against a zero, or null, nothing. We are reminded that somehow zero is always both the smallest and the largest number of all. Sound Painting depicts reflected layers of light and shadow, and was created during a live streamed performance of improvised music by Jostein Stalheim, Stefan Ostersjo, Thanh Thuy Nguyen, Sergej Tchirkov, and Claudio Jacomucci in 2021.

The Life Textures series shows active movement in natural textures of water, wind, and flowers. These works include the colorful Floral Splash, the plunging Organic Depths, and the graceful lines of Windy Pair ( 2 small paintings ). Also in the Life Textures series are the curious angles and ripples of Liquid Music, and Edelweiss, with petals on suspended silkscreen.

The Leaves series shows the unappreciated beauty to be found in aging, as life is lost bit by bit, leaving remnants all around us each Autumn. From this series, Leaves and Butterflies shows fluttering of glass-wing butterflies amongst bluish leaves, while Ferns and Golden Foliage in Autumn is a collage that evokes hints of spearmint and bee pollen. Two paintings from 2022 are Glimpsing Sky from Beneath Dazzling Leaves, which depicts hope in dark places, and Gentle Brook Beyond Foliage, which shows a tranquil place unaffected by human struggles.