Following the opening of Salt Land, Michael Gao is joined by curator Joséphine May Bailey in conversation, delving into his artistic practice and his writing. In parallel to his painting, Gao wrote a short story that follows a boy navigating complicated feelings like desire and solitude, as he escapes from falling in love and takes up solitary work in a lighthouse. Gao began the conversation with a reading from the book, before discussing the relationship between his writing and his painting practice.
Below you will find highlights from the conversation. For the full discussion please click the video link at the end of the text.
Installation view: Salt Land, Michael Gao. Copyright 2026 Mandy Zhang Art
What is Salt Land
Gao: Salt Land is a kind of imaginary space, a landscape. It conjures something quite barren in my mind. I'm kind of referring to the salt flats, but also it's imaginary. It's something glistening, pristine, magical and mesmerizing but at the same time barren, corrosive and uninhabitable. The salt in the story in particular, it creeps up in the end and it's an anxiety almost. It sort of builds and builds and builds. I think it's very healthy to feel anxious and recognize it. You know its a part of you that you cannot brush aside or completely deny.
This anxiety is visualised into a psychological landscape, thus constructing Salt Land.
Michael Gao, After Breeze, Acrylic on linen, 70 x 100 cm, 2026
Designing the text
Gao: "I wrote it (in the way that) I read it in my head and I would hope that's how you, as the reader, would enjoy it too. Its designed with empty spaces, providing space for rumination. The pace of the story is slow, with subtle emotions. Ultimately, the reader decides the pace at which the story is read, making the experience unique to each person."
Salt Land publication, published by Perediza Studios. Copyright 2026 Michael Gao and Mandy Zhang Art.
Gao: "The story started as an emotional anchor during the process of composing this series of paintings. While the paintings do not illustrate the novel, they inhabit the atmosphere."
Salt Land publication, published by Perediza Studios. Copyright 2026 Michael Gao and Mandy Zhang Art.
About the DOGS AND THE BOY
Gao: "It was a very intentional choice to not have any dogs in the story and I wanted for the boy to be a sort of foil to the dogs. I definitely see myself in the boy. Sometimes it gets frustrating reading and writing this character, I often think to myself, "Wow, you are so melodramatic. You're so annoying."
"However, there is a beauty in the sense that I see myself in it and there is virtue in recognizing that. Maybe the dogs are the boy's imagination because he's so lonely. He imagined these unconditional lovers, companions to him, but also maybe they're the boy, you know, they're in need of this unconditional companionship, but they're alone in this isolated, cold, harsh environment."
Installation view: Salt Land, Michael Gao. Copyright 2026 Mandy Zhang Art.
On the uncanny
Gao: "Uncanny, to me is when something is so close to what you recognize but not quite and that distance creates a lot of visceral emotion. When I moved to London I frequented the National Gallery. Upon seeing these early Renaissance masters, I recognized the sense of uncanny in their landscape and in their positioning of figures. Piero della Francesca as a mathematician used math to try to understand the visual world that he's experiencing, and attempted to translate that onto a piece of canvas."
"Uncanniness slowly creeps up upon close observation, where the viewer notices inconsistencies that are not fully explainable. That creates a distance between the illusion and the viewer. You're drawing attention to the fact that it is a painting. Yes, it's a surface."
Airbrushing and painting as a medium
Gao: "I really enjoy painting these muscles. You can tell it took a huge amount of time and energy as well. Its a way for me to trace my finger on the form of these animals I'm depicting. Airbrush as a medium, at least the way I use it, I layer very thin layers of pigment on top, almost like glazing. Usually, airbrush artists would mix the paint or the ink in the exact color and then spray it on the canvas, but I really like to mix it on the canvas, (almost using it) like an oil."
Studio view: Salt Land, Michael Gao. Copyright 2026 Mandy Zhang Art.
Limited Edition Book Launch
Alongside the opening of Salt Land and in addition to the publication published with Perediza Studios, Michael Gao launched a limited edition series of 10 hand-bound books. Featuring Gao’s original story in full alongside an essay by curator Joséphine May Bailey, each book has a unique artist-painted cover, with soft gradients of blue, pink and warm orange mirroring the sky’s changing colours from dusk to dawn. Together, the ten covers form a poetic sequence, echoing the shifting light and quiet atmosphere of Salt Land.
To enquire about purchasing please email: info@mandyzhang.art
Salt Land Artist Book, Edition of 10. Copyright 2026 Michael Gao and Mandy Zhang Art.
To listen to the full conversation, watch the full discussion below.
