Jing Ma

Jing Ma

Born in Liaocheng City, China

Lives & works in Ellicott City, MD

The works of Claude Monet inspired me to be an artist; like Monet, I am keenly interested in the way sunlight creates shadow. In my early artwork, I focused exclusively on the relationship between light, shadow, and reflection using graphic pencils and oil paints.  In more recent work, my interest has expanded to include family, culture, and childhood memories. I work with contrasting, saturated colors because they call to mind the visual language of childhood. I play with paint texture to suggest emotion, using smooth brushstrokes to create a sense of calm, or rough brushstrokes to evoke tension. I find beauty even in these moments of tension; ultimately, I paint to find and freeze the beauty I recall from my memory, however unlikely the source.