Hao Shen is currently based in New York, NY. He is expecting to gain his MFA in the School of Visual Arts in 2025. Hao obtained his Bachelor‘s degree in printmaking at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in China in 2005, and since graduation, he has been working as a professional artist. Hao explores his subjects via painting, printmaking, and drawing. Hao Shen’s interest and inquiry focus on the question of what shapes “me” into the “me” today. Therefore, “grafting” “imitation” “replication” and “excerption” are themes of his recent works. He considers “imitation” essentially as the conscious or unconscious behaviors that occur as people encounter and become one another; these behaviors could also serve as a form of deception to people’s vision and cognition. Based on this theoretical foundation of imitation, he now explores the method of painting with only palette knives to imitate and replicate the effects of brushes. Hao Shen uses colors according to his emotions stimulated by the rhythm of music. His subject matters tend to be everyday objects that are irregular and contorted. The traces of time on these objects (such as dirt and rust), combined with passionate colors, counteract the monotony and banality of organized forms and unified patterns.