I’ve got nothing in common but the gender with the women that I presented in my works. The differences among individuals are subtle and I have always been an outsider when I am with those women in different communities, which allows me to observe every detail of their behaviours as an independent individual.

Started from 2012, The Second Series, as a long lasting series of works on female subject, is realistic, ruthless, yet outstanding with feminine characteristics in humanity.
“The Second” which means hiding behind others and never being the first here represents mediocrity and desolation. “The Second Sex” which means the second sex characteristics or the second humanity here refers to women. As “The Second Sex”, these women possess unique thoughts, confident personal charismata as well as all the weaknesses of human nature. Observing and interpreting them from the perspective of “The Second Sex” is like shuttling from the living room to the bedroom.

The factory girls that I am studying recently are a group that I can observe on the scene. They are ordinary but tenacious. Their lives are neither passionate nor creative. However, they still live earnestly with joys and tears.
I am trying to visualise these groups of women that I have studied in a literary way. I focus on the parts that exist in the humanity, in between the humanity and society as well as the parts that are neglected by the society or that have not been covered up yet in the daily life. The powers that I have been looking for broke through the visual surface, which should not be ignored.

No matter which community you belong to or what kind of attitude you hold; no matter hard or not, this is life.
The works of GUO Qingling have been exhibited in “Reactivation, Fei Contemporary Art Center (Shanghai, China) and Benton Box (Dusseldorf, Germany)”; “They! – Solo Exhibitions by GUO Qingling, PRETTY LAND Gallery, Germany”; “Broken Mirrors, CATTD Gallery, London ,UK”; “FCA-xxx Contemporary Art Exhibition, Fei Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China”; “She is sick! – Solo Exhibitions by GUO Qingling, Fei Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China”; “High Art From Shanghai, Contemporary Art Exhibition, Triumphal arch, Paris; FALL OUT, H Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand”; “Open Road, The Creek Art Center, Shanghai, China”; “Fei, Fei, Fei, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China”; “The Contemporary Asian Art Fair, Art Seasons Gallery, Singapore”; “SEAFOOD – GUO Qingling Solo Exhibition, Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai, China”; “99 Exhibition of Young Shanghai Artists, Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China”; “The Brilliance of City, Invitational Exhibition of Shanghai, New – Figurative Paintings, Shanghai, China” etc.