Embrace Your Roots, Trust Your Wings
During my recent trip home, I had the privilege of helping my artist mom sort through her and my dad's art and literature book collections. I experienced many touching moments as I realized how my parents gifted me with a unique upbringing, surrounded by art and poetry even before I could read!
I’d like to share with you, my friends, this collage of images that are precious to me. Looking at these photos brings back so many cherished memories: the warm afternoon sunlight filtering through calligraphy brushes hanging in my mom's studio; the sound and pungent smell of mom teaching me how to grind an ink stick on an ink stone; the visceral experience of applying an exquisitely carved seal on textured rice paper with viscous red pigment paste, revealing enchanting ancient pictographs; and flipping through Gustav Doré's lithographed art in vintage large-format Bibles or Paradise Lost, wondering about these stories while listening to my dad recount how he bought these books second-hand from the University of Michigan library and shipped them back to Taiwan across the Pacific Ocean.
It’s my parents' passion for art and literature that instilled in me a profound sensitivity to colors and shapes, movements and rhythms, sights and sounds, tales and songs. These objects, images, senses, and memories have become integral to my aesthetic story and the rich soil from which my art grows.
From an initial spark of curiosity and wonder in my heart, my interests have grown, driven by a relentless pursuit of books, ideas, friendships, and exploration. This journey led me to pursue Western Literature and Languages at university, a whole year of Shakespearean studies and Western art history in America, followed by a summer touring France, visiting cathedrals and galleries including Picasso’s Château and Matisse’s Villa in southeastern France during my sophomore year. The adventure even opened an amazing door to my participation in a TV documentary on medieval art conservation at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, The Abbey of Saint John in Val Müstair, near the border of Switzerland and Italy!
I feel immensely grateful to continue drawing inspiration from my Asian roots and classical Western literature and art in my artistic practice today. I love blending the Western Soak-Stain method with the Asian Water Ink tradition to create abstract and landscape paintings. I hope my story of "Embracing Your roots, trusting Your wings" resonates with you, encouraging you to explore your own heritage and influences. By nurturing your passions with persistence and hunger, seeking mentorship and community, you too can embark on a journey of discovery and growth, uncovering your potential and fulfilling your calling.