Megan Lui
Megan Lui is a mixed media artist based in the Detroit area, who works with acrylic paint, spray paint, and ink on canvas, while using modeling paste and collage paper to enhance the canvas with texture. Using natural forms along with geometric patterns, her work finds structure within chaos. Through texture, form, and vivid color, her paintings are observations of modern existence.
Megan has a Bachelor’s Degree from Wayne State University. She has exhibited throughout metro Detroit and in Toronto. Her work is in private collections across the United States and in the Netherlands.
Contact
www.meganlui.art
hello@meganlui.art
@meganlui.art
Interview
What inspires your art practice and keeps you motivated?
I always feel like I am seeking something when I am creating, that I am trying to discover something. Challenging myself to find new color combinations, textures, and compositions—it all leads down the path of self-discovery. Finding the best expression of my mind in that moment. Because I keep changing—keep growing—there’s always something new to find.
How does your mission as an artist influence the work you create?
My mission as an artist is to portray the connections between all people and to emphasize the importance of relationships and empathy for each other. My 1000 Paper Cranes series are paintings depicting living paper cranes in a dreamlike abstract world. The themes behind each painting are built out of observations and feelings that I had from being a caregiver, first as a nurse and then as a mother to a sick child. The cranes symbolize the lives we build for ourselves, highlighting how fragile life is, as they are simply made of paper. The cranes fly about, racing, dancing; these paintings emphasize the need for others and the community that we all have. My mission ends up being a grounding point. Each painting’s narrative comes back to this theme of appreciating each other in the time we have together.
Can you share a key part of your creative process that helps you stay focused?
Journaling in my sketchbook while examining my own artwork helps keep me focused. Taking the time to ask myself, “Why did I do that? Why grid lines or flowers or whatever? What does this mean to me?” It helps focus my intentions, and ultimately refines my art and message when moving on to the next piece. It keeps me feeling connected to my art and makes my process more of a cycle. While I am reflecting or journaling, that is when I most often find the first spark of a new idea, and the process repeats.
What mindset tip do you rely on to overcome challenges in your art career?
I have a short list of affirmations for when I face rejection. I was not a fan of the idea of affirmations before I tried them. I have fought low self-esteem for a long time, and it just felt hokey to say nice things about myself. So when I first tried coming up with my own, I had to make sure they were ones that I couldn’t argue with myself over. My first affirmation that I keep going back to is simply, “I am persistent.”
It reminds me that it doesn’t matter that rejection stings and I don’t feel awesome right now, I am still going to get up and try again. I think it helps me pick myself back up faster and get back to a positive mindset. If you are a person who also feels a little weird saying nice things about yourself, start small. Find something you won’t argue with, that maybe is kind of neutral. For me, it’s persistence.
How do you hope your art impacts the world or your community?
I hope my art inspires compassion and thoughtfulness in others.
