Prayers

Shu Hua Xiong

September 4 - October 11,  2025

island is excited to present Prayers, a debut solo exhibition by Shu Hua Xiong. The twelve paintings which comprise the exhibition move between figuration and abstraction, formally referencing biological structures and fractal patterns. Rooted in Taoist philosophy and Jung’s theory of individuation, each painting creates a vessel for reflection, yearning, and unity.

Xiong observes a contemporary collision of ancient wisdom and modern science, which forces us to reconcile with non-dualistic understandings. In Hilma, a reference to Hilma af Klint’s The Swan, No. 1, the two subjects almost perfectly balance one another in the composition. As their forms dissolve between planes, one bears witness to a synthesis in polarities, and the beauty in doing so. In an age of fragmentation and philosophical alienation, Prayers offers a new spiritualist cosmology outlining how to live and heal from within.


Shu Hua Xiong (b.1994, Shanghai, China) is a chinese-american painter who works and lives in New York, known for her ethereal and poetic paintings and illustrations. Her work straddles between abstract and representation, exploring themes of spirituality and religions, the physical and psychological realms, and often draws inspiration from music, literature, myth and nature.