Stella Guan

Paris/New York/Mechelen,

I Really Need To Get Out Of Here,

ALL PIECES ARE MIXED MEDIA

72x49,

2020

Bio:

Stella Guan is a queer, non-binary 20-year-old from Brooklyn, New York. Currently, Stella is majoring in Fine Arts and minoring in Creative Writing at the American University of Paris. Additionally, they are pursuing a career as a tattoo artist. Stella has had an interest in art since childhood, often occupying themselves making little books full of doodles. It wasn't until 2019 that they started experimenting with different mediums and developing their own style. Having grown up in a challenging household with difficult family relationships, and dealing with BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) as well as gender identity struggles, Stella uses their art and writing as the ultimate form of expression. By translating deeply rooted, emotionally scarring experiences and memories into their paintings, Stella challenges not only themselves but also their viewers to delve into the most horrifying, bitter, and hurt parts of themselves. With their paintings, Stella hopes to bring awareness to the difficulties of living with a mental health disorder and being a trauma survivor. As well as connect with those going through similar things.

Artist Statement:

I try to paint everything I feel, whether it be things that make me happy or sad. I have quickly learned that having Borderline Personality Disorder, there is no such thing as just happy, or just sad. It’s a cycle of extreme joy, and heart wrenching depression, all in maybe an hour. It’s not just missing someone or something, it’s being completely broken by having lost them or the memories. It’s not just being upset. It’s being so angry, that I start shaking. My work is a direct result of the emotions I cannot help but feel so strongly. It is debilitating, but painting makes it tolerable. The idea of being better seems so much more tangible, and controlling the fires in my chest seem so much more realistic. I paint about the things I miss, the future I want to have, the person I wish I was, the partner I hope I can be, the things that scare me, the things that hurt me, and the things that keep me up at night.