With a focus on the artist's continuing exploration on shan shui, the exhibition is packed with features on four main series: Ambiguous World, Trans-From, Megalith of the Spirit, and Stains of Time. Among these 21 planar works and a latest video piece, the viewer is invited to dive into Yuan’s creative process, uncovering her own interpretation of the absurdity of modern world and the human condition in this era. Yuan’s works are hints of reflections on outer environment, self-awareness and reconsiderations of historical aesthetic, which makes us ponder on the circumstances we live in.

The major theme in Yuan’s works is landscape. Landscape is a common subject matter for most Chinese ink painters, but Yuan sheds a new light on the concept of landscape with her creative art practice. “The rock can be view both as an object and non-object, and the boundaries between the two is blurred and ambiguous,” Yuan said in her artist statement. She doesn’t purposely imitate nature, but follows the “Naturalness.” What defines the “naturalness” is hidden but as we dig deeper we could gradually grasp the idea she wishes to convey – Painting could be a medium to construct a path of life in one’s mind. Based on this, Yuan rearranges traditional forms, structures, brush techniques, and aesthetic norms, attempting to dispel the inertia in both the landscape theme and her own mind. Her body of work proves to be a revolution in a much more quiet and gradual way.

Yuan Hui-Li, also known as Yuan Shu, was born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1963. Graduating from the 1st Chinese ink painting program of the National Institute of the Arts (TNUA), Yuan went on to study in the Taipei National University of the Arts and Tainan National University of the Arts (TNNUA) for her master and doctoral degree. She is currently a lecturer at the National Hsinchu University and Tamkang University. Her works are in collections of several international institutions, including UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland) in London, UK; the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in Kaohsiung, Taiwan; the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung, Taiwan; the Kuandu Museum in Taipei, Taiwan; and the Juming Museum in New Taipei city, Taiwan. Notable exhibitions include Look for 101 painter at ITPark Gallery in Taipei, Taiwan (2013); Kaohsiung Art Award at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2012); Contemporary Bland Painting - Exhibition & Symposium at Supu Art Museum in Beijing, China (2011); Element · Rhythm at the Han House Museum in Hangzhou, China (2010); The new space: 2009 Exhibition of Contemporary Cross-Strait Ink Paintings at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung, Taiwan (2009); and Form, Idea, Essence, Rhythm: Contemporary East Asian Ink Painting at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taipei, Taiwan (2008)

-Tina Keng Gallery

Image: © Yuan Hui-Li
Courtesy of the artist and Tina Keng Gallery