Finding Home in Being Lost

By Sorah Guthrie ‘25, Taigu Fellow

Around the start of the semester, I went on a walk at night and under the fluorescent glow of a lamppost. Like a beacon, I saw a set of oil paints, a wooden palate and easel, and a canvas with a half finished painting. I wondered who was painting there, who had sat on the folding stool and how could I follow the breadcrumbs to the creative community of Taigu? I left a note in pencil on a napkin that read, “My name is Sorah, I like to paint. I live in the red houses.” The next day it rained, so my note must have become soggy pulp and I don’t think my vague message would have prompted the nearby artists to contact me anyways. But a couple days later, I went back to investigate and found more remnants of painters.