CV
"Dreaming is awaking. Visualization uncovers vision.
Focusing on the intense yet vitalizedly balanced entanglement and coexistence between mechanical and living beings, Grace Tao’s artworks visualize the core of the dreaming mechanism that is not fake or illusional but just more real than “reality,” if we insist on this non-essential normalized delineation. A higher structural unification of dynamics, as the deepest reality veiled in the visual reality as a form of cognitive normalization, is marvellously visually represented through the distortion, abstraction, and innovative re-integration of real-life objects through Grace’s unique contradiction and dynamic harmonization framework.
Such a dream mechanism cannot work without proactive reversion of the presumed structure of gaze and objectification. The camera, as the instrument for gazing, becomes the gazed; the gears, as the channel of structured mechanical movements, are deprived of the structure from which they are entitled meaning. Then, at this very instant when the reality is stunned and visual normalization fades, when instrumentality is no longer valid, colours and plants – the disordered and the very soft – break in and build the dream vision. Thus, when the new rhythm of movements is re-introduced into vision, they are no longer instrumentalized and normalized but back into the very beginning moment when the impulse of moving and creating appears, and there are numerous forms of them waiting to be realized."
----- Chen Chen, an influential Art Critic @ Vancouver, Canada
Biography
Painter and Senior Designer working in the industry of visual arts for years.
2007-2010 Concordia University, BFA, Montreal, Canada
Major: Painting & Drawing
Minor: Computation Arts
Grace Tao is an artist who has extensive experience in painting, design, business, and collection. From academia to business, she has transcended the field of creation. In recent years, she has been engaged in interior design, making art deeply rooted in life. Driving a motorcycle, communicating with customers one-on-one, and other life and actions rooted in the land of Vancouver are the source of her artistic creation. Her works mainly have two different styles, one is the pleasing abstract and colour field oil painting, and the other is the juxtaposition of machinery and flowers and plants that combines pop and realism to explore the relationship between natural laws, human engineering, and design logic.
Artist Statement
Grace began painting at a young age. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and a double degree in Economics in China. After immigrating to Canada, she obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from Concordia University in Montreal, majoring in Painting and minoring in Computer Art.
Years of family life and entrepreneurial experience drew her to the subject of machinery — a theme she finds deeply resonant with lived experience. Machinery, with its intricate structure and layered beauty, mirrors life: both are governed by compelling systems that often feel beyond our control.
To Grace, art is the expression of emotion. When the emotional resonance she feels in creating a piece can be felt by the viewer, a silent yet powerful connection is made. Like many artists, her inspiration comes from life — years of immigration, family responsibilities, and running a business continue to enrich the stories she tells through her art.
Post-Impressionism, Byzantine art, and the work of David Hockney have had a significant influence on her current practice. Their textures, color palettes, and compositions have helped her develop a visual language that conveys meaning while enhancing aesthetic expression.
For Grace, painting machinery serves as an emotional outlet. Whether deconstructing her inner world or exploring its interplay with natural elements, the process combines color and form to produce emotionally charged, visually rich works. Her art explores the tension between reality and unreality, perfection and imperfection, freedom and discipline, nature and man-made systems — connecting contradictions in a way that feels both paradoxical and harmonious.
Education:
2007-2010 Concordia University, BFA
Major in Painting & Drawing, Minor in Computation Arts.
ARTIST TALKS
2025 June – Lipont Gallery @ Richmond, BC
2025 Feb – Lipont Gallery @ Richmond, BC
2024 Dec. – NPC Arts Centre @ South Surrey, BC
2024 May – R&C Academy of Art + Design @ South Surrey, BC
2023 May – Royal Bank of Canada @ South Surrey, BC
TWO-PERSON EXHIBITION
2025 May – “Fantasia” Lipont Gallery @ Richmond, BC
GROUP EXHIBITION
2025 June – “2025 Vancouver Salon Exhibition” Federation Gallery @ Vancouver, BC
2025 June – “2025 On The Edge Exhibition” Federation Gallery @ Vancouver, BC
2024 August – “Dream Mechanism” Lipont Gallery @ Richmond, BC