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L. Song Wu is a figurative painter originally from Tampa, Florida, currently residing and working in northern California. She graduated from Stanford University in 2024 with a double major in art and engineering. Wu’s provocative paintings explore the tension between intimacy and alienation, inviting viewers to question their own sense of belonging and constructions of the female form. Drawing from a range of sources like anime, YouTube thumbnails, and memory, Wu creates a meticulously crafted world that refracts her ideas of place and self in today’s dizzying contemporary landscape.
Wu’s work has been exhibited in New York, Paris, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. She has been selected as a finalist for the AXA Art Prize and the Tournesol Award.
L. Song Wu currently has her debut solo show Elsewhere, which runs until December 21, at IRL Gallery, at their new location 86 Walker St Second Floor NY 10013.
Hi L Song Wu! It’s a pleasure to sit down with you! First question that I always ask. How does a regular day look like for you in the Bay Area?
Hi Rubén, it is a pleasure to be here with you. I currently work full-time in arts education. For a while, my days were as follows: paint before work, go to work, and then paint after work till midnight. I would see friends and family on the weekends, but I was very strict about painting for at least 4-5 hours everyday in preparation for my show with IRL.
Now that I am done preparing for this show, after work I relax. I’m currently re-watching The Sopranos and reading Ordinary Disasters by Anne Anlin Cheng. Oh, and I’m learning how to crochet (and finally responding to all my messages).
Growing up in Tampa, Florida, what kind of kid were you? What did you enjoy doing and how did you spend your time?
According to my parents, I was constantly crying and misbehaved a lot as a baby. As a kid, I was mischievous and maybe even a bad influence (depending on who you ask). I spent all my time with my best friend, Sam, who was my partner in crime since grade school. If it weren’t for her, I would have felt very misunderstood and alone.
There wasn’t much to do in Tampa growing up, so we would loiter around the school track field, spend entire days at the movie theater, surf the internet, and listen to music. We made up stories in the form of avant-garde music videos or fanfiction. Growing up in Tampa required both imagination and an embrace of suburban ennui—we made our own fun.
I watched tons of TV and cartoons as a kid—The Simpsons and Futurama were my favorites, and, of course, a ton of anime. I learned how to draw anime characters, and that became my “thing” in grade school. My parents hung up my drawings of Homer Simpson and Tohru from Fruits Basket around the house. I wrote tons of manga and comics and wanted to be a mangaka or graphic novelist when I grew up.
Alright, so when did you start to paint, and when did you start taking being an artist seriously?
I started painting seriously when I was in high school. I had been painting since middle school, but I didn’t really know what I was doing back then. I don’t quite remember what compelled me to take painting more seriously—I think I was captivated by all the amazing paintings I saw on Instagram and social media. They felt like magic to me, and I drove myself crazy trying to understand how they were made. I was determined to learn, and honestly, I’m still trying!
I started considering becoming an artist more seriously in college. I went to Stanford University somewhat hesitantly, telling myself I would major in Computer Science, but deep down, I was too embarrassed to admit I wanted to pursue art. My sense of self was pulled in all directions during the beginning of my time there.
During the lockdown, though, I decided to put myself out there. I worked on a painting series, set up my own exhibition at school to showcase the work, and invited friends, professors, and a few gallerists. It was well-received, and that gave me the confidence to keep going. By my senior year, when I had to decide what I wanted to do next, I realized I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. Nothing else keeps me up at night the way art does.
Let’s talk about your work now. You currently have your debut solo show with IRL Gallery, titled Elsewhere. Can you tell me about your body of work for this exhibition. What was your inspiration behind it?
My new series of work is inspired by my travels to Europe, my time in California, and growing up in Florida. I’ve also lived many lives on the internet, and I think all of these experiences have contributed to feelings of placelessness, liminality, and alienation. The environments that emerge in my works distill the essence of places I’ve been to or dreamed of, populated by anonymous figures—representations of people I must have encountered in dreams or nightmares. Additionally, as a kid, I had a lot of original characters (“OCs”) and was very interested in worldbuilding, so I was constantly conjuring up people and places.
Skies are a predominant feature of my latest paintings. After living in the Bay Area for five years, where clouds are a relatively rare sight, I’ve come to appreciate how different the skies feel compared to Florida, where I can hardly recall a day without clouds.
I’ve always been fascinated by guarded structures, like citadels or houses with no doors, contrasted with open structures, like vales or endless rooms. One of my favorite writers growing up was Haruki Murakami. Many of his characters are impenetrable—you knew you could never fully understand them. There was this mysterious yet alluring distance, not only between the reader and the characters but also between the characters themselves. It’s a familiar dance – feeling so close and then so far away from someone and someplace in a short amount of time.
I suppose what I’m trying to convey is an interest in both physical and mental barriers—and how these two interact to betray a viewer’s sense of ease within an environment.
Can you tell me about your use of symbolism?
A professor once told me that the best paintings are the ones that continue to have a conversation with you long after they’re finished. Being schooled at a research institution, I was taught to approach art much like writing a thesis—you should read, analyze, react, defend, and so on, all in a structured manner. While I appreciate the methodology and the security it provides, I wanted to try something different: chasing urges, feelings, and fleeting images. Something more indulgent.
The meaning I attach to my paintings evolves over time, but the symbols and motifs that emerge are deeply personal reflections of my innermost desires and fears, not deliberate gestures toward some grand narrative. It might sound strange, but I often feel powerless to the choices I make when painting. At least, that’s how I feel about it right now.
Additionally, I think there’s a lot of pressure on non-White artists to present a profound, ready-made explanation for their work and why they did XYZ. It’s exhausting to constantly explain or even justify myself. Sometimes I have an explanation; sometimes I don’t. Sometimes a symbol carries deeper meaning; sometimes it doesn’t.
How long has it taken you to develop your current painting style?
I think of my current painting style as a recent development, though I can’t be entirely unbiased about myself. In 2021, I began making anime girl paintings, but I drifted away from them last year. Those paintings felt like they took forever to complete because I wasn’t as confident back then. Now, however, I feel like I’m finding my rhythm. Things are starting to feel more natural.
What are some of your current inspirations?
There are so many painters, artists, musicians and writers that inspire me that I won’t bother listing them. Everything else: rolling hills, mountains, Martino, Maeve, daylight, fusion cuisine, Nikocado Avocado, really beautiful desserts, fried plantains.
How would you describe a perfect day?
70 degree weather, a blue sky, friends and loved ones with me, a home cooked meal, a nice long walk, and something unexpected…
In a parallel universe who would you be? and what would you be doing?
It would be cool to be a mad scientist/inventor. I would have an underground lab and do a lot of under-the-table experiments. I’ve thought about it, so who knows. Maybe in the future…
Alright Song. I always ask these two questions at the end of an interview. The first is. What’s your favorite movie(s) and why?
I honestly don’t think I have a favorite movie—it always feels like a trap question. I really enjoyed Nocturnal Animals by Tom Ford and Mind Game by Masaaki Yuasa. I like thrillers, revenge movies, and Jake Gyllenhaal. The God scene in Mind Game always stayed with me.
The second is. What are some of your favorite songs?
L’estetica by Uochi Toki, DG Jeans by Bladee, Before the World Was Big by Girlpool, Along with Brew by PilotRedSky, and so so many others!