For this solo exhibition, The Geometry of Passion, Chen Hui-Chiao mentioned that she drew her inspiration from events that happened to those close to her. Yet, rather than create a documentary of actual events or clues that lead one’s imagination to find what it wants, Chen sorts through the mutterings of those close to her and organizes the causalities of life’s encounters. Then, she uses concise artistic language to create visual expressions that seem logical: Chen calls this “geometry.” Through this, some things are made clearer, more structured and defined amongst the ambiguity and faintness of passion. Yet, passion is still passion. Flowing symbols and reveries still lurk amongst the signs arranged on the flat dotted surface. These are the true answers that do not exist. The artist’s intention is not to unravel some kind of greater mystery to life. Rather, the goal is to let viewers find some time to recall some things worth remembering amongst the ever-expanding radii.

For Chen’s works over the past two years, such as 2009’s “Winter Sun”; 2010’s “The Silver Dust #3,” “Blue, and Black,” “The Name of the Rose,” “Divine Comedy”; and 2011’s “The God of Small Things/ The God of Loss,” “The Promise Shambhala,” “The Dots of Love,” “Shadow of the Wind,” “Seven Days and Night,” “Burning Sun,” “Blue Moon,” “Venus II”, one finds that by combining the works’ titles, a modern poem is formed. The imagery depicted by these titles greatly fascinates the artist. And, most of them stem from Chen’s zeal for literature. Some titles are named after books, while others are derived from phrases in novels. Although these stories each carry their own unique charm and inspiration, Chen does not intentionally interpret these complex contexts. The stories themselves are not the medium used to understand Chen’s works. Rather, Chen materializes these literary works into visible, tangible objects. Or, the artist uses rich and touching stories to reflect and explore her own state of existence.

“All ideas are passion.” This is how Chen defines it. And, thus, in this context, “passion” does not exist: at any instance, millions of passions are created and destroyed, like fleeting dreams or sand granules in a flowing river... Among the billions of ideas, only one is materialized. In her daily life, Chen pays close attention to the flow of her thoughts. And, through her works, there is a slim chance that a viewer will witness a glimpse of interpersonal bonding. (***See full text: Dots: A Reading of Chen Hui-Chiao's Passion for Geometry by Sun Xiaotong）

Time, is a far away and personal dream,
Smell like old roses on a breeze.
Most mysterious obscure things, twined with sexual desire, Eros and death;
And, some things are deep buried out of sight, beneath the lost horizon.

Edges, Borders, Boundaries, Brinks and Limits…
At the muddled consciousness of the terminal...
There exist some simple, yet perfect shapes, a sphere, circle, and line.
These are the geometry shapes of passion.