Jenny Chen: Fluid Explorations @ Taipei Cultural Center/ NYC

Jenny Chen: Fluid Explorations
Opening Reception
Oct 15 (Wed) 6-8pm

Taipei Cultural Center
1 East 42nd Street, New York

Tao is the way or the path, the journey that we take in relation to nature, where nature and the human soul connect, where there are no real differences, no distinctions, only the way of nature revealing itself in all actions, perpetually striving to find balance in the universe and within the human soul. This idea, founded by the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu in the sixth century before the Christian era, has also played an important part in Chinese painting over the centuries, including the present century. Jenny Chen is connected to this idea as revealed in all aspects of her work. Therefore, the facile connection to Western art is perhaps more an affinity than a real influence. The fact that we can see in her work the gestures and marks of abstract expressionism does not mean that he work is a simulation. Instead I would argue for the originality in the paintings of Jenny Chen, especially in terms of where she has taken these ideas in the current exhibition.

For the Taipei Cultural Center , the artist began thinking in terms of casting. The use of transparent overlays in the video film inspired this concept to some degree. Initially Chen started working with small rectilinear blocks in which the fields of grey, black, and white were layered and overlaid differently with each casting. These blocks or modules are generally equal in size so that when they were placed side by side the textural depth of each interior form became explicit in the same way that it might appear on paper after making a calligraphic brushstroke. The major difference, of course, between paper and resin is the liquidity of the material and the precise timing that is necessary in order for the form to evolve before the next layer is applied. Given that the use of epoxy requires the artist to wear a mask for respiratory protection, there is some limitation in terms of physical mobility that is not the same as using a brush on paper. The experience of doing the work and remaining alert to the kind of precision and intuition necessary to allow the form to evolve requires a subtle shift in thinking through the process of the work.

There is a kind of intuition involved in the realization of these liquid forms, an intuition that is never exactly predictable. Even so, a trained calligrapher and painter, such as Ms. Chen, can use these accidental effects to her advantage. Limitations in one’s material or work process do not necessarily imply inhibition. It is quite the opposite. As Taoist masters understand, the recognition of one’s limitations can become a source of great energy. We cannot assume to know everything consciously as we engage in the process of art. Much of what happens will happen because desire is put aside, and we awake to the energy that is truly within us. In the West what we may call “accidental” is not at all accidental to the Chinese painter. What happens in the process of painting, regardless of the medium – ink on painter or acrylic on resin – has its own logic, a logic that relates directly to the process of nature.

...Art is the mind of nature, and what we are seeing in these works is the vibration of a moment in time, a moment whereby we return to ourselves. By returning to ourselves we come into the space of existence through the art of meditation.

Excerpt from Jenny Chen: Art as the Mind of Nature, catalogue essay by Robert C. Morgan