Mingze Gao is an artist whose work often blurs the line of visual expression. From the real to the imagined, to the solitary and the shared, Gao invites people to view his art in ways that explore the intimacy of human experience. Some of his pieces carry an emotional weight that highlights fragility and loss.
At the heart of Gao’s artistry lies the Theory of Forms, popularized by the philosopher Plato during the 4th century (399 BCE). The theory postulates that the physical world is less perfect, with an ever-changing makeup of perfections called forms, which shape Gao’s perspective on life and the art he creates.
“My practice is rooted in creating immersive emotional landscapes,” Gao shares. “I’m interested in how dormant feelings can be awakened through interaction.”
Gao sees his work as a process that aims to bridge the connections to emotion that are often difficult to name. Through these encounters, he believes feelings are not merely experienced but constructed.
Blurring the Lines of Art and Reality
Gao’s art installations carry emotional weight that viewers can tangibly experience. Through sensors, movement, and participation, he strives to collapse the barrier between the artwork and the audience, turning viewers into participants.
“It transforms the artwork into a shared experience, and that resonates deeply with my belief that relationships and emotions are communal,” Gao says.
Gao draws inspiration for these works from encounters that reveal the fragility of linear concepts of time. Whether from passing conversations, fleeting encounters with strangers, or even the natural cycles of the world around him, Gao feels that objects and even letters can carry an emotional weight, which in turn form reminders that life is worth revisiting through artistic mediums.
Gao’s installations primarily focus on how individuals willingly engage in relationships despite the idea that they will inevitably end. This is particularly true of his video and installation, HOURGLASS, which examines how connections between people shape identity and perception in enduring ways.
A more recent project, Ophyrs Apifera, was inspired by an orchid that lures bees with the illusion of a lover and then reshapes itself into that apparition, even though the lover has vanished. Enticed by its own projection, the orchid becomes detached from the world and drifts alone toward the end.
“This echoes a human tendency,” Gao reflects. “We project our fantasies onto those we love, and sometimes inhabit those projections until they lead us to an inevitable conclusion.”
The Idea of Universal Experiences
For many, grief, love, and impermanence are constants in life. Whether one learns about them early on or experiences them later in life, these emotions are encountered. As an artist, Gao draws his inspiration from these experiences.
“Interactivity turns viewers into participants,” Gao adds. “It transforms the artwork into a shared experience, and that resonates deeply with my belief that relationships and emotions are communal.”
Gao’s perspective on art has shifted toward what he calls a “relational practice. “He feels that art is less of a statement and more of a dialogue between the artist and their viewer.
While creating interactive and immersive spaces in physical installations fuels Gao’s work, his work ultimately invites people to explore, together, what Plato’s philosophy means —not only to him but to those around him.
“We project our fantasies onto those we love, and sometimes inhabit those projections until they lead us to an inevitable conclusion,” Gao concludes.
Through these projections, Gao wants people to understand that life’s impermanence often intertwines with the emotions people experience daily and shapes the art he creates.
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“My practice is rooted in creating immersive emotional landscapes,” Gao shares. “I’m interested in how dormant feelings can be awakened through interaction.”
Gao sees his work as a process that aims to bridge the connections to emotion that are often difficult to name. Through these encounters, he believes feelings are not merely experienced but constructed.
