Ulu 有鹿
Ulu, an artist from China, currently resides in Nanjing, China. Her primary work involves painting, some writing, and managing her personal brand.
Projects at Sansan Books:
https://sansanbooks.com/portfolio/safety_exit/
https://sansanbooks.com/portfolio/dream-elephant/
Before focusing on painting as her main profession, she was an architect. In her spare time, she wrote some novels and published her first collection of short stories, “The Summer of My Twenty-Ninth Year.” Creating illustrations for this collection led her to start painting. Her early works were more personal: spontaneous dreams and metaphors for emotions. They were somewhat like fiction, imaginary yet aiming for precision.
Later, her life changed significantly, involving changes, losses, and rebuilding, which were perhaps more spiritual in nature. During this period, her painting underwent a major shift. To avoid being overwhelmed by pain, she chose to evade and escape. She abandoned her favoured metaphors and turned to depicting simple, straightforward, beautiful things. Nature, plants, and cats—objects she loved and felt safe around. These did not disturb her inner world much, but they provided her with some healing, as well as commercial income. They were like a path away from pain during a difficult phase of her life. She called this series of paintings “Safety Exit.” Now, as she reflects on them, she feels ready, standing at the exit.
Life has brought her here and will continue to guide her forward.
Personal Profile in Douban (in Chinese): https://www.douban.com/people/youlucat/