There, There (2023)

Digitally printed mural from digital painting, installation size 376.5”x124.74”. Installed in Cleveland Public Square, Summer 2023.

“There, There” is inspired by the new craft I picked up during pandemic - sewing. In the painting, a cute and puffy cloud, rendered in Trompe ‘l’oeil style, is offering consolation to a “real” cloud which seems to be sad. Two clouds exist in the same picture plane, under the same sky, and yet they seem to belong to different worlds. Each world offers a certain degree of reality. I am interested in the relationship between these worlds, and how it generates a sense of humor and possibilities for dialogue when they collide. In my work, I often use the sky as a backdrop to create a dream-like environment. I try to remember and reconnect with the mindset of painting as a child. I always think of the sky as a refuge for the mind. It contains hopes, dreams, and memories. Floating in the middle of the sky, the images and objects in my paintings become a portal to tenderness.

This project is made possible by LANDFORM - a public art program developed and managed by local non-profit LAND studio, brings temporary artworks to downtown Cleveland. Projects varying in scale and media are created by diverse local, regional, and international artists. The LANDFORM art wall features a rotating gallery of murals by local artists on the back of the café on Public Square. Thank you to the John P. Murphy Foundation and The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation for their continued support of public art in Cleveland. To learn more about this and other exciting projects, visit LAND-studio.org. #landformCLE

Photo Credit (1 and 3): Bob Perkoski





© Chen Peng 2023