Guo Wei is one of the community of artists from Chengdu, Sichuan province. The art of these artists is lyrical and subtle. They are almost all investigating the individual, the personality, the development of the self in the new liberalising China.

Guo Wei concentrates on scenes from everyday life in his paintings, focussing on the individual rather than on grander social issues. The isolation of the individual as subject is a predominant element in the Chinese avant garde. Since the communist system heavily favours the collectivity and, formerly, the only "individuals" of interest were those ideal peasants and workers of the communist propaganda machine, this focus on the individual is an expression of contemporary artistic liberty as well as being a novelty yet to be fully explored. Guo Wei says one of the things he explores is the restless nature of teenage children. He is searching for the expression of an emotion as well as an image.