ARTIST STATEMENT

In my work, I combine a variety of contradictory and ambiguous emotional issues. I have been very influenced by Tibetan Lama religion during the numerous trips to Tibet over the past 20 years. Conceptually, the principal focus of my work is the conflict between human instinct and lofty ideals, between fantasy and reality.  Issues of spiritual transformation and personal experience are my constant themes.
 

My current subject is a Mask Series, reflecting the contradiction between outer human appearance and inner substance, between desire for love and misunderstanding in everyday life. As we well know, we all wear many different masks to face other people in society, the world, even ourselves. Such contradictions have always existed within us, from remote antiquity to modern times. I often use the symbols of female bodies, green apples, leaves, insects, animals, etc. Those symbols represent the meaning of life, the purity of soul, the mystery of nature, the temptation of fiend and the beauty of dream. In my work, however, I do not propose any resolution to the problems. I prefer to present the symbols of struggle, contradiction and ambiguous emotional issues, and allow the viewers to choose the way through with they might be made to mesh with one another.

In the process of my work, I incorporate the paint on canvas in mixed media, together with a 2D or 3D approach and self-made, painted frame.