Artist Statement

My painting is an extension of the imaginary worlds of my own creation. I am inspired by my personal experiences and perceptions and by a range of different events, stories, and other impressions - some of which may not exist in the physical universe but nevertheless are reflections of reality. As an artist I deconstruct what I perceive, ponder it, and recreate my ideas in my work. Often, my work evolves over time, starting out as something seemingly insignificant before finding its way into my notebooks, gradually fusing with other fragmentary ideas to become a final product.

My artwork combines the world of real objects and the realm of virtual reality, frequently blurring the line between the two dimensions of consciousness. I explore different art styles with various concepts and combine elements ranging from rudimentary lines to a variety of subtle colors. In my painting, “Hands Fantasy,” I portray several hands, painted in a variety of colors, wandering across the canvas, engaged in several activities. I intentionally obscure the focal point of this piece and include a number of images that can be perceived as reflections. The real and the illusory coexist, making visible what might otherwise be unseen.

Sometimes I see an image in my mind, but cannot distinguish the real world and the imaginary. This confusion, I believe, may extend beyond myself and could be an extension of the society in which we are all immersed. In the “Devastation of Social Media,” the illusions created by various media outlets for public consumption are exaggerated to reflect the damaging effects caused by the false impressions we create and seek out. Social media distorts reality, while the devices we use create a virtual reality that is ultimately very harmful to our collective self-image.

In another of my works, “Line Drawing in 3D Space”, I take the childhood practice of aimless scribbling to a new level of art by integrating the unbridled creativity of a child and the complex and more intentional mind of an adult. This overlap, in reality, may be a non-existent space, but in my work, this fusion resembles developments that do indeed exist in the natural world.

The work “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” is inspired by Taiwanese literature and historical records that give credit to the Japanese colonial government for “modernizing” the “uncivilized” people of Taiwan. This mischaracterization sparked my compassion for unfair treatment of aboriginal Taiwanese under Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945. Despite the distortion of history, there were, I believe, still some truths that were not overshadowed by any historical bias. In this work, I re-create fragments of Taiwanese history during the Japanese colonial era, and provide a new representation of reality to fill in the gaps that have been lost in history.