Maisie Luo

Artist statement

Using painting, writing, sculpture, performance,and painted animation, I examine the intimate connections between animalwelfare, our everyday life, and the future of our planet. Modern lifestyles andconsumptive systems are often dependent on the ongoing exploitation of animalsand the environment. My practice is inspired by Buddhist teachings of puttingoneself into the position of another sentient being and imagining theirexperience. With various aesthetics and narrative techniques, such as humor, I posequestions about the sustainability of contemporary lifestyles and createvisions that give more respect and autonomy to animals and nature.

I imagine and portray animal liberation. In 2024, I began making escape signs and manuals for captive animals based on reported incidents and captive animals I saw in real life. But captive animals are my hypothetical audience. These manuals provide imaginative and provisional solutions for people to reflect on the agency of every animal and respect their desire to live and be happy. I also explore the relationship between painting, signs, and writing for communication. I draw inspiration from signs in public spacesto create narratives about multispecies relationship. The aesthetics invites people,regardless of what languages they speak, to see and read the narratives.Meanwhile, my adaptations and alternations of familiar symbols and signs askthe viewer to not assume the content but to work on deciphering the narrativesand the embedded ethical questions. As a result of their careful observation,the viewer might feel more invested in the narratives. The hope is that visionsfor animal and nature will sow the seeds of actual multispecies flourishment.