Coco Guo (b. 2002 Qingdao, China) is currently pursuing a BFA at New York University. Informed by her Chinese and Western upbringing, Guo examines questions of physical, cultural, and gender identity with undertones of societal critique. With a hint of self-portraiture, her paintings focus on doll-like protagonists characterized by youthfulness and innocence. She reflects upon her multicultural experiences that unfold dichotomies of belonging and estrangement, struggles and reconciliation, physical and emotional.
Combining figurative imageries and organic forms, my work addresses the social phenomenon and taboos driven by the patriarchal narrative of history and the seductive contemporary mass media landscape. Living in the age of intense consumerism and image proliferation, I often find myself troubled by the portrayal of gender stereotypes through the ages that perpetuates much of the problematic yet highly worshipped cultural standards nowadays. Expected to adhere to these societal norms, many women including myself unwittingly participate in and internalize self-objectification. My adolescent protagonists are not only metaphors for myself but also projections of others who have more or less experienced similar moments of vulnerability, insecurity, and uncertainty in the process of self-discovery.