We were lucky to catch up with Cleo Peng recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cleo, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on is Can you __ me?, a self-published two-volume art book created between 2022 and 2024. It emerged during a time of personal transition—moving alone from China to New York to pursue a creative life. I used this project to explore themes of emotional transience, cultural displacement, and intimacy through mixed media works, interviews, and photography.

What made it meaningful was how deeply personal yet universal it became. It was my way of processing solitude, identity, and connection, while also inviting the viewer to fill in their own blanks—hence the open-ended title. Creating it allowed me to define my voice not just as a visual maker but as a storyteller shaped by both Eastern roots and a Western context.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Cleo Peng. I’m a Chinese artist based in New York. My work centers on fleeting emotions, quiet gestures, and the subtle yet profound experiences that often go unnoticed. After moving alone from China to the U.S., I became increasingly attuned to themes of displacement, intimacy, and emotional memory—threads that now run deeply through my artistic practice.

I work across photography, self-publishing, text, and moving image to create pieces that are introspective and emotionally resonant. I’m interested in what lingers beneath the surface—the unsaid, the almost-felt—and how art can hold space for those moments.

What sets my work apart is its softness and emotional depth. I don’t seek loudness or spectacle, but rather moments of stillness and recognition—works that make people feel quietly seen.

One of the projects I’m most proud of is my recent publication Can you __ me?, which spans works created between 2022 and 2024. It captures personal reflections on connection, longing, and vulnerability, and includes an in-depth interview about my process.

For those encountering my work for the first time, I hope it offers not just a visual experience, but an emotional one—an invitation to pause, reflect, and feel.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think the best way to support artists is to create more access—whether that’s through funding, visibility, or just space to exist and be heard. A lot of people don’t realize how much emotional labor and financial instability can come with being an artist, especially for those of us without traditional support systems. Things like affordable studios, grants that are easy to apply for, or platforms that showcase diverse voices can make a huge difference. It’s also about building community—having spaces where we can connect, share, and not feel like we’re creating in a vacuum. Support doesn’t always have to be big—it can be listening, showing up, or even just caring about the stories we tell.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

For me, the core of my creative journey is about capturing fleeting emotions—those subtle, often overlooked moments of intimacy, longing, or stillness that sit between the lines of everyday life. I want my work to feel like a pause, a quiet invitation to feel something deeply and maybe see the world a little differently. As someone who moved to a new country on my own, art has become both a way of processing and preserving experience. I think my mission is really just to connect—across distance, language, and silence—through visual emotion.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cleopeng.art/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cleo.peng/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cleo-peng-177b491a0/

Image Credits

For me, the core of my creative journey is about capturing fleeting emotions—those subtle, often overlooked moments of intimacy, longing, or stillness that sit between the lines of everyday life. I want my work to feel like a pause, a quiet invitation to feel something deeply and maybe see the world a little differently. As someone who moved to a new country on my own, art has become both a way of processing and preserving experience. I think my mission is really just to connect—across distance, language, and silence—through visual emotion.