Artist Statement

I specialize in large-scale paper-cutting works. As an artistic tradition, Paper-cutting dates back to the sixth century in China making it one of the oldest art forms. I started to use scissors to cut different symbols with great joy when I was a child and then graduated to working with blades.

Being a new media artist with multicultural background from the Far East, I am traditionally trained in drawing, Oil painting, Chinese brush painting, and graphic design in early 90's period. I started to use computer in 1999 when I studied at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. I gradually integrated my digital media skills with traditional fine arts abilities during the past 12 years of professional exploration. I used to work with a 2D paper-cutting style in which I blended cultural influences drawn from both Eastern and Western aesthetics. After the Arts/Industry residency I started to build 3D and 4D installations in which I mixed video, sound, motion, traditional Chinese paper-cutting, drawing, and watercolor. I am excited to attempt to blend all these elements together as exploratory challenges to myself.

In my recent piece Blue Green Mountain and Red Mountain The works addressed China’s environmental problems. As the speed and scale of China’s rise as an economic power have no clear parallel in history, so its pollution problem has shattered all precedents. Environmental degradation is now so severe, with such stark domestic and international repercussions, that pollution poses not only a major long-term burden on the Chinese public but also an acute political challenge to the ruling Communist Party. The work used traditional Chinese painting style to show Chinese cities often seem surrounded by industry building trashes and wrapped in a toxic gray shroud.

My two series new arts last Kiss I and II are the responses to the recent sad news that 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School are killed in Newtown . In my brain a scene repeats again and again. In my stories in the morning daddy raises his sweetie heart daughter to kiss her check say good bye before she went to school , Mommy prepares the lunch box and kiss the forehead of her lovely son say goodbye, Brother hold his little sister to school. This is the view happens everyday in many families. Who can imagine this is the last kiss for those victim families? In my works tree branches go through the body of mother, farther and their children to describe the nature blood bounding between them. I also use different languages (English, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Arabic, German, Korean, French, German … ect) to repeat the same information “ our heart are broken today”. There is one thing in the world which has no barrier of culture, language, country and religion. This is love.

My artwork represents the outcome of soul-searching of a being – a woman, a mother, and a college professor in the changing world. While my work continues to develop, I begin to critically review my identity from the context of the family to the pluralistic society with historical meanings. I have started to research and make plans to create a series of large-scale paper-cutting based on true stories of war, poverty, and lives of new immigrants to the U.S. who are striving. It is my undying intention to relate my artworks to more and more people across the national boundaries.