Xian Eley

Artist Statement

My work is representational, leaning toward surrealism. As an artist I strive to communicate an appreciation of the natural world, often incorporating imagery containing plants and nature. To convey this, my preferred medium is oil painting, which allows me to present both precision and abstraction harmoniously. For “creating tomorrow” I was inspired by the idea of longevity and preservation. We cannot live in the world today without considering how our actions will impact the future.

Oftentimes when surrounded by sprawling cities and tall buildings we can forget to admire the natural world. Conservatory is intended to show the lush flora beauty trapped within an exposed greenhouse. While looking through the glass outside, it is a barren, grey, industrial landscape. The plant life creates a green hue emphasized by the glass panes, masking the dull landscape outside. As we move closer to irreparably damaging our ecosystem through climate change, we move closer to the reality in which nature will only exist within a box.

In Galactic Egg, a sunlike egg sits at the center of the composition in a sea of stars and planets. For myself, eggs represent a very literal and cosmic interpretation of creating tomorrow. While navigating our own lives it can be easy to overlook the vast cosmos we exist within. Hence I sought to connect the vast mystery of space with the recognizable image of a fried egg; in some small way representing the fragility of the universe.