Artist Statement
My work explores the spectacle, awe, and yet wistfulness of landscapes and human developed environments that hold stories of cycles and rhythms of lives, questioning how we are embedded in our surroundings and the feedback loops between people and their environments.
Through oil painting, I investigate both the forms and memories of our surroundings as our environment influences who we’ve become, who we are, and who we will be. I am drawn to the vibrant colors of our surroundings as they remind me of the joy and brightness of life intertwined with the mundane. I ground the viewers in a place and invite them to look closely, engaging with the vitality and dynamism, while inspiring a deeper connection to place. My artworks are reflective pieces that inspire personal reflection and inventory about our reciprocal relationship with our environment and how we relate to place.
Margaret Luo is a self-taught artist living in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Traditionally trained as a data scientist aimed to improve well-being for people and communities through policy research, she turned to oil painting to develop a more emotional and human connection to people and nature. You can find Margaret Luo working in her studio at Alameda Artworks in San Jose.