The background in my recent paintings is made of layers of ephemeral, indistinct Chinese characters, which are drawn from old woodblock-printed Buddhist scripture. These characters carry the distinctive look that they were cut by the human hand, with all the imperfections and inconsistencies in strokes, width and spacing. My sources of inspiration were created before the impact of the computer on characters, types and graphic design, therefore none of the refinements of the laser-perfect type we have come to expect are there. If a character had a horizontal stroke slightly higher or lower, or the thickness of a line stroke differed from another, I replicate it the same way for visual effect. These characters are juxtaposed with the illusion of cuts, slashes or crumpling of the paper. The trompe l'oeil illusions allow the viewer to peer through and beyond the appearance of a manipulated surface, the appearance of light and shadow, which is only pigment on flat paper.
The images are an unconscious choice hinting at the confluence of cultural heritages in me, both Eastern and Western. Conceptually, the work provokes viewers to reflect on an uninterrupted five thousand years of history and the relevance of an Asian influence in today's world, about our ability to understand and appreciate arts and thoughts from a non-Western vantage point, and about forms of self-expression from a Chinese-American's perspective.
The images are an unconscious choice hinting at the confluence of cultural heritages in me, both Eastern and Western. Conceptually, the work provokes viewers to reflect on an uninterrupted five thousand years of history and the relevance of an Asian influence in today's world, about our ability to understand and appreciate arts and thoughts from a non-Western vantage point, and about forms of self-expression from a Chinese-American's perspective.