Immersive paintings created through meditative states draw parallels between the body and the universe

There is a moment when you stand in front of an Anthea Shinn painting and the scales begin to melt. The work first appears as an abstract field of indigo and mineral pigments. Gradually, they are reorganized into material and astronomical things. The arc of the gesture suggests the curvature of the spine and the gravitational pull of the orbits of distant celestial bodies. In Shin’s works, the human figure is not directly depicted. Instead, it is implied through movement, rhythm, and trajectory. The canvas becomes a place of convergence, where the microscopic and the infinite collapse into a common visual language.

At the core of Shin’s practice is a guiding idea. “The human form and the wider universe exist as a single system in flux,” she tells My Modern Met. She draws on Taoism and Buddhism to explore the connection between the microcosm and the macrocosm. This concept shapes both her thinking and her process. Before painting, Shin enters a meditative liminal state. She allows for changes in perception and body awareness. “Without breaking the trance,” she notes, she transforms these internal states into “spontaneous, concrete movements.”

This immediacy is visible throughout the surface of her work. The gentle arcs and dense layers of pigment feel more liberated than planned. Each painting is read as a record of movement rather than a fixed image. “I don’t think of my work as ‘painting’ in the traditional sense,” she says. “Rather, it is an indexical record of a physical presence moving through space within a broader system.” The canvas functions as both a surface and a tool. It captures the movement of a body attuned to forces beyond itself.

Her materials strengthen this connection between Earth and the universe. Xin works with indigo, lapis lazuli, bronze, and earth ocher. These pigments are formed through geological and atmospheric processes. They convey a sense of time and material history. “Using these pigments is a symbolic act,” she explains. “I physically paint things on earth to represent things in the heavens.” The deep blue evokes a vast night sky, and the metallic traces flicker like suspended lights.

Shin describes the body as “the interface of celestial bodies.” She approaches painting as a study of the body. The body becomes both a tool and a recorder. “Every mark on the canvas is data for that interface,” she says. “It is a physical record of the universe expressed through the human body.” This view moves gesture from expression to evidence. The body becomes a conduit for a larger system. This idea forms the visual language of her work. The branched shapes are reminiscent of neural pathways and cosmic filaments. Curved gestures echo both the movement of limbs and the arc of gravity. Singh studies “universal laws and geometric constants that are self-similar across biological and cosmological scales.” She guides the composition within her own range of movement. The result is what she calls “a dance between human chaos and cosmic precision.”

Ritual plays a central role in her process. Through meditation and physical practice, Shin accesses what she describes as “deeper, more coherent forms of embodied knowledge.” This knowledge comes from the body’s own intelligence. It’s not something abstract, it’s something you can feel. She also works with environments on a vast scale, including geological and archaeological sites. These experiences inform how she translates large-scale phenomena into physical gestures.

Her work also redefines the sacred. Shin does not place it in a distant or transcendental realm. Instead, she finds it in material and bodily experiences. “What is ‘sacred’ is not something that is ‘outside’,” she reflects. “It is the raw elegance of Prima Materia, pulsating directly within us.” Her paintings reveal this interconnected structure. They function as moments of recognition rather than expression.

This approach resists the pace of modern life. Xin responds to a world shaped by fragmentation and digital overload. She emphasizes slowness and presence. “By slowing down and accessing the receptivity of our bodies, we can re-center ourselves within a sacred and broader context of interdependence,” she says. Painting can be a way to regain a sense of connection and belonging.

She also draws clear parallels between biological and cosmic systems. “Whether we’re looking at the delicate surfaces of human cells or the giant edges of black holes, we’re seeing matter reacting to invisible laws,” she explains. She highlights striking similarities across scales. “The way biological cells divide looks much like the gravitational tidal tails that form when two galaxies collide and merge.” These similarities reveal a common structural logic.

For Shin, art becomes a tool for changing direction. “Art has the power to reorient us, wake us up and break through our collective paralysis,” she says. Her works challenge viewers to change their perceptions. It promotes awareness of our place within a larger system. As she points out, we are “an essential component of a monumental and ever-changing universe.”

Her paintings function as both records and propositions. They follow the ongoing investigation into existence. At the same time, we invite you to participate. Standing in front of them doesn’t just mean observing. It means entering the realm of relationships between body and universe, matter and movement, self and system. In this space, awareness expands.

Contemporary artist Anthea Shin draws deeply from Eastern philosophy to create immersive works shaped by meditation and physical practice.

Rooted in Taoism and Buddhism, her work reveals how bodily experience extends into vast cosmic systems.

These abstract paintings explore how the human body reflects cosmic systems through movement, gesture, and natural materials.

Anthea Singh: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to publish Anthea Xin’s photo.

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