Shimeng Wei
Where We Meet
24” x 30”
Painting
Artist Statement
In my previous artistic practice, I explored commercial illustration and children’s book illustration across diverse themes and visual forms. Commercial illustration shaped my narrative awareness and refined my visual language. However, it was through creating children’s book stories that I discovered a deeper resonance, a sense of sincerity and emotional authenticity that continues to guide my practice.
My illustrations are guided by a poetic spirit and an exploration of personal consciousness. I am deeply interested in the position of the individual within a vast, broader world, reflecting on the relationship between the intimate and the infinite, and the inner self and the external landscape.
In Where We Meet, the little bird serves as a metaphor for my inner spiritual world, both a traveler and an observer, moving between reality and imagination. Through this figure, I transform personal experience into a broader visual language that invites universal reflection.
Imagination is central to my work. I construct imagined worlds by weaving together classical architecture, cultural memory, and natural elements into unified visual experiences. In my travel-themed works, waterlilies and landscapes become symbolic representations of cities, creating atmospheres that are lyrical, contem-
plative, and rooted in nature.
I am drawn to designing symbols and patterns through association and intuition. Inspired by commercial illustrators such as Niga, I seek to create imagery that carries narrative depth and a strong atmospheric presence. My storytelling often reflects personal memories and emotional experiences from my past.