Bao Pei is an artist who has grown at the crossroads of Eastern and Western cultures. In her artistic world, she uses handmade paper as a foundational medium, combining printmaking and painting techniques. Layering oil paint, printmaking inks, and tempera pigments, she constructs a visually compelling system that balances abstraction with a sense of spirituality and tension. Bao Pei reflects on her creative journey and her latest solo exhibition.

The Artist's Journey and Thoughts on Art Mediums

Whitestone Gallery Beijing

- What inspired your journey as an artist?

Bao: My artistic awakening was rooted in the atmosphere of my family. My father, a renowned oil painter in China, created an environment in which I grew up immersed in his studio, where painting became a natural part of my daily life. At the age of seventeen, I formally began studying under him. He was not only my first mentor in art, but also the one who shaped my perception and methodology of artistic practice. For me, art has never been a matter of chance—it is an inner continuation.

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- Your works often combine traditional materials such as handmade paper with mixed media. Could you tell us why you are drawn to these materials and how they shape your expression?

Bao: In 1980, I entered the Printmaking Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Printmaking itself is a multidisciplinary process, encompassing woodcut, etching, and mixed media. This inherent complexity established for me a path toward diverse modes of thinking. I am particularly drawn to handmade paper—not only as a material support, but as a vessel of emotion. Its formation process—plant fibers, hemp, bamboo, and even leather transformed into pulp through natural exposure to sunlight and fermentation—imbues it with a unique warmth and vitality.

On this paper surface, I layer oil color, printmaking ink, tempera pigments, and at times even light installations, transforming it into a field that holds both space and imagery. Through the accumulation of material layers and the unpredictability of splashing, the work reveals infinite folds and tension within the finite plane of paper. This “compressed tension” has become one of the core elements of my artistic language.

Inner Impulse and Thoughts on Structure

Whitestone Gallery Beijing

- Many describe your art as carrying a strong sense of spirituality and abstraction. How do you see the relationship between inner emotion and the visual language you create?

Bao: The origin of my artistic creation lies in the manifestation of inner impulse. Every work begins with an irrepressible desire to express, and visual language becomes the bridge between that desire and my inner self. For me, the artistic process is one in which the heart and hand are intimately connected. Emotion is not a passive release but is transformed through medium and form into an abstract spirituality.

Bao Pei “The Sleeping Brooks were Stirred by the Whisper of the Tree God” 2025, 206.0 × 330.0 cm, Handmade paper, Tempera, Printing Ink and oil color

- Your use of space, emptiness, and recurring motifs like squares suggest deeper reflections on existence. What do these elements mean to you?

Bao: Space and emptiness serve as the structural foundation of my work, offering possibilities for both spatial relationships and the perception of the viewer. The emergence of the grid stems from my early experience with woodcut. The grid itself does not carry direct meaning, yet through constant layering and its intersections with diagonal lines, the “errors” that arise form a distinctive abstract language. If the essence of modernism can be said to lie in the “grid,” then my practice is to regard it as both an art-historical concept and a framework of visual experience. Within this context, I continually defer, shift, and displace, generating an artistic language system that is uniquely my own.

Whitestone Gallery Beijing

Cultural Dialogue and Silent Resonance

- Having lived both in China and New York, and now working in Beijing, how have these different cultural contexts influenced your artistic vision?

Bao: In my early years, my education was almost entirely rooted in Western art. During my time in New York, the works I encountered and experienced were also those of Western artists, and Western culture was once at the core of my learning. It was not until 2003, after returning to China, that I was truly struck by the depth of Chinese painting when I happened to come across a book of Shitao’s works at a friend’s home. Soon after, the works of Huang Binhong, Zhu Da (Bada Shanren), Mei Qing, Qiu Ying, and Xu Wei allowed me to rediscover the profoundness of Eastern culture. In truth, the deepest layers of culture do not need to be consciously studied; they are bound to one’s very bloodline and will naturally be awakened at a certain stage of life. Today, I believe that whether from the East or the West, as long as it is a creation of human civilization and a sincere expression, it has the power to transcend cultural differences and evoke emotional resonance.

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- What kind of dialogue would you like to create with viewers through your upcoming exhibition?

Bao: I hope viewers can feel the vitality that the work carries and, through engaging with it, awaken their own inner experiences. The work is no longer a one-way presentation, but an open text. Each viewer can, based on their own life experiences, discover their personal feelings within it. When these feelings resonate with the emotions embedded in the work, they form the ideal “silent dialogue” between me and the audience.

Whitestone Gallery Beijing

Through the inner continuity woven by layers of materials such as handmade paper and grids, Bao Pei’s practice creates a silent dialogue that resonates with the viewer’s inner self. Bridging Eastern and Western traditions with a contemporary visual language, her expression continuously renews itself, inviting new interpretations and resonances.

BAO PEI: Where the Butterfly Has Been