Before coming to the United States to study, Fu had no idea what it would truly feel like to live in a foreign land: the suppression, the silence, the loneliness, the in-betweenness—being neither here nor there, the drifting sensation of having no solid ground underfoot, the constant fear and anxiety, the endless longing for family and homeland.
Some of these feelings were uncannily similar to the emotional state Fu had experienced while living in mainland China under a political environment where freedom of expression is suppressed. But Fu had always chosen to suppress or selectively ignore those emotions—until one night at 1 a.m., she suddenly lost all control and let out three piercing screams that woke all her housemates.
(oil painting “Metamorphosis” by Guodong fu in 2022)
Suppression and silence have long been part of the Chinese cultural DNA. Chinese society tends to glorify silence. Yet the deep human yearning for freedom and self-realization clashes violently with the culturally ingrained instinct to suppress all real emotions. In Fu’s personality, this conflict has always been intense.
Over the past 22 years—starting from the moment she first picked up a paintbrush with zero formal training and created her very first oil painting at age 20, Fu’s way of processing, releasing, and transforming this inner tension has been through compulsive, relentless painting.
For the younger Fu, painting was her only lifeline.
For the Fu of today, painting still is the only lifeline.
In other words, in a human society where suppression is normalized—where the divide between the powerful and the powerless is vast—free expression may well be the only path for a person to reclaim their full humanity.
To repress one’s deepest feelings and thoughts is also to repress one’s most precious vitality and creative power. And this instinct to suppress is not merely political or cultural; it is human and universal. Wherever there are people, there is repression.
So when Fu exhibited over 600 mandala drawings and more than 140 oil paintings—created in a short burst of intense productivity—in her solo show “Daily Paintings” in Beijing in 2013;
When Fu created a giant “Eye of Insight” installation using over a hundred mandala drawings and a large oil painting for the 2024 SMFA at Tufts University graduation exhibition;
And when Fu publicly stated that she has produced roughly 50,000 pieces of original work over the last 22 years—
Many were stunned by the sheer number. But to Fu, her body of work is nothing less than a response to both individual and collective silence. Her creations are natural and necessary.
(Summon: Guodong Fu’s installation made by hundreds of mandala drawings and large-scale oil painting in SMFA at Tufts University Graduate Exhibition)
Fu has listened to the sobs of an immigrant in the dead of night.
She has seen the flicker of radiant light in the eyes of a schizophrenic or severely autistic individual who felt finally seen and heard.
She has been moved by the spontaneous guitar playing and soulful singing of someone from the LGBTQ community struggling with identity.
She knows that in every heartbeat, there is a voice waiting to be heard—and believes that once those repressed voices are acknowledged, they can lead to deep personal and societal transformation.
Fu longs to see more marginalized individuals reclaim their power and self-worth through expression and creation. She is calling for the formation of a new kind of community.
(Guuodong Fu in her video made for a LQGTB+-identity stranger)
Fu has decided to launch her own branded art gallery.
Unlike any gallery in art history, Gordon Rainbow Bridge exists to provide space for anyone who, like Fu, has decided to no longer stay silent—to create, express, and showcase their work freely.
In this space, participants will feel welcomed and accepted on every level: body, mind, and spirit.
Whether someone is a professional artist or not is irrelevant—because, as Fu has long believed through her artistic practice, when someone truly has something to say to the world, they will inevitably find their way to create and express it.
Driven by the urgency to “say something,” they will develop their own techniques, styles, and creative systems—not by mimicking known traditions or inheriting legacies, and certainly not by yielding to academic authorities or market trends.
Today, the very first product line from Fu’s branded gallery has officially launched.
This first series features 29 unique artistic T-shirts, each printed with one of 29 carefully selected images from G’s archive of over 50,000 original works. Gordon Rainbow Bridge | art t-shirt
She has named this series:
“You Don’t Have to Stay Silent Anymore.”
(Installation made by 29 T-shirts with 29 original artwork printed, by Guodong Fu)
From years of intense artmaking and personal transformation, Fu has distilled the core elements of her creative journey:
Breaking silence. Free expression. Art as healing. The journey of individuation. The transformative power of art.
In the long sweep of human art history—if art has been misunderstood, if artists have been misunderstood, if even the human being itself has been misunderstood—then the mission of Gordon Rainbow Bridge is to rediscover and re-envision what art truly is—and what else it can be.
The first open call hosted by Gordon Rainbow Bridge Art Gallery, curated by Guodong Fu, is now accepting submissions:
The First Open Call: “You Don’t Have to Stay Silent Any More.”
All individuals who wish to use art as a channel to express their voice are warmly invited to submit their work through the following website: Events | Gordon Rainbow Bri 2
Let us await with excitement and wonder the unique brilliance of every future project brought to life by Gordon Rainbow Bridge.
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