Dory Xu (she/her) is an Asian-Canadian artist based in Vancouver, BC. Inspired by nature and the everyday landscape, her work is a visual exploration of color and form to create a sense of wonder in our daily surroundings, shaping and shifting perspectives within familiar places.

Most commonly known by her Instagram handle @bigbluetang, Dory Xu first started sharing her art publicly in 2019, though it wasn’t until the virality of the #pantonechallenge that her career as an artist began taking off. Today, the hashtag has attracted over 20k participants, becoming a digital international art movement connecting artists all around the world. 

The Pantone art challenge began in January 2020, the idea being to paint on a different Pantone color swatch everyday for 30 days. As the art challenge progressed, more and more artists online became drawn to the idea, many choosing to participate by sharing their own daily paintings through using the hashtag #pantonechallenge2020.

I never expected the Pantone art challenge to take off the way it did, it started just as a personal project to establish more consistency in my own creative practice. At the time, I struggled with making art on and off, wrestling with a constant sense of perfectionism that left me feeling discontent with everything I’d create. While scrolling through beautifully curated accounts by other artists, I felt lost in comparison, wishing for my art to look like theirs. While trying to replicate the art of others, I felt increasingly exhausted and unhappy in the process of creating work that felt authentic to me.