ARTIST'S STATEMENT
A melding of the PAST, PRESENT, EAST, WEST, MENTAL, SPIRITUAL and PHYSICAL
I was schooled in the fine arts of traditional printmaking, photography, new media, drawing, and painting at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (Halifax), Ontario College of Art & Design (Toronto) Pratt Institute (New York) and Central Academy of Fine Arts 中央美术学院 (Beijing). Most of the focus was on acquiring skills in time-honoured techniques. These included drawing with different media (wax-based crayons, pencils, charcoal, chalk and oil pastels, pen and ink, felt-tipped markers, metal etching needles, etc.) on different surfaces. The range of surface materials included hand-made and mass-produced papers, textiles, metal plates (used for engraving, etching, drypoint, aquatint, and mezzotint), wood (for relief/block printing), limestone slabs used in lithography. I painted with oil, acrylic, and watercolour paints on canvas, wood, and papers. The lessons in new media during these early days revolved primarily around videography, performance art, and installation. Afterwards, when I moved to Toronto, Ontario, I received training as a computer graphics artist (an industry partnership with George Brown College, Toronto).
Through these experiences, I gained a deep appreciation of past, present, and future instruments available to the artist. As a painter, my preferred tools beckon from the past. These are traditional mineral and vegetable-based Chinese watercolour inks applied to hand-made papers such as 毛边纸Mao bian zhi, or mass-produced plant-based rolls of paper derived from the mulberry tree (桑皮纸 Sang pi zhi). I paint with a hybrid of techniques blending my Asian ethnicity with the western culture of my current environment. My ancestors, dating back four generations and spanning more than a century, were among Canada’s earliest settlers from China. So, having assimilated into western (British colonial) culture, it required concentrated effort to regain knowledge of my ancestral heritage. Many traditional Chinese painters include poetry from Buddhist, Taoist or historic literature into their artworks. However, as a Christian, I find solace in the inspired writings of the Holy Bible.
Many thanks to the Ontario Arts Council, the Government of Canada (Global Affairs), and the Government of the People’s Republic of China who have generously supported my artistic endeavours.
A melding of the PAST, PRESENT, EAST, WEST, MENTAL, SPIRITUAL and PHYSICAL
I was schooled in the fine arts of traditional printmaking, photography, new media, drawing, and painting at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (Halifax), Ontario College of Art & Design (Toronto) Pratt Institute (New York) and Central Academy of Fine Arts 中央美术学院 (Beijing). Most of the focus was on acquiring skills in time-honoured techniques. These included drawing with different media (wax-based crayons, pencils, charcoal, chalk and oil pastels, pen and ink, felt-tipped markers, metal etching needles, etc.) on different surfaces. The range of surface materials included hand-made and mass-produced papers, textiles, metal plates (used for engraving, etching, drypoint, aquatint, and mezzotint), wood (for relief/block printing), limestone slabs used in lithography. I painted with oil, acrylic, and watercolour paints on canvas, wood, and papers. The lessons in new media during these early days revolved primarily around videography, performance art, and installation. Afterwards, when I moved to Toronto, Ontario, I received training as a computer graphics artist (an industry partnership with George Brown College, Toronto).
Through these experiences, I gained a deep appreciation of past, present, and future instruments available to the artist. As a painter, my preferred tools beckon from the past. These are traditional mineral and vegetable-based Chinese watercolour inks applied to hand-made papers such as 毛边纸Mao bian zhi, or mass-produced plant-based rolls of paper derived from the mulberry tree (桑皮纸 Sang pi zhi). I paint with a hybrid of techniques blending my Asian ethnicity with the western culture of my current environment. My ancestors, dating back four generations and spanning more than a century, were among Canada’s earliest settlers from China. So, having assimilated into western (British colonial) culture, it required concentrated effort to regain knowledge of my ancestral heritage. Many traditional Chinese painters include poetry from Buddhist, Taoist or historic literature into their artworks. However, as a Christian, I find solace in the inspired writings of the Holy Bible.
Many thanks to the Ontario Arts Council, the Government of Canada (Global Affairs), and the Government of the People’s Republic of China who have generously supported my artistic endeavours.