Eva Low

Artist Statement

I utilize portraiture to explore the concept of isolation, with a focus on detachment—from oneself, the physical world, and, more often than not, cultural identity.

My self-portraits function as keepsakes of self-reflection. As an Indonesian immigrant of Chinese descent, my sense of identity has been shaped by loss. I moved to the United States at the age of four and grew up in an environment that “othered” me, as those closest to me chose to strip away what little I had retained from my motherland. This led to a deeply fractured sense of self and belonging that has shaped many other parts of my life, warping what should have been sources of safety and comfort into ones rooted in anxiety and fear.

By utilizing references and imagination to incorporate additional symbolic elements, my work explores the complexity of these emotions and how they flow through new lived experiences and a continuously shifting political climate. I use myself as both subject and vessel to process memories and invoke transformation.

I am deeply influenced by the work of Hung Liu, particularly the color she brings to the subjects she reimagines. I became enamored with her use of circles and the way their presence feels both intuitive and necessary. Inspired, I have carried this visual language into my own practice. I am consistently drawn to the cyclical nature of life, the uncertainty of shadows, and, more recently, the rich yet fleeting quality of alizarin crimson.

In the Resident Foreign Alien series, each piece is composed of collaged images, animals, and objects that construct distinct environments and alternate realities. In essence, my paintings fuel the search for a place of true belonging—a home—something I have yet to find.